Samford 74, UT-San Antonio 73
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - With Samford trailing UTSA by a score of 73-70 with less than 10 seconds to play, senior Josh Davis gathered a pass with the shot clock running out at the left flank. The Bulldogs' senior from Lubbock, Texas, faked to his left and heaved up a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to tie Monday's game at 73-73 with 4.5 seconds remaining at the UTSA Convocation Center.
Davis' thrilling fade-away 3-point field goal was scored despite being surrounded by a trio of tenacious Roadrunner defenders. The game-tying 3-pointer also tied Samford's season high of 18 3-point baskets. Earlier this season, the Bulldogs also drained 18 3-pointers in their 79-68 victory at Auburn on Nov. 19.
Immediately after Davis' shot tied the game at 73-73, UTSA's Jeromie Hill turned the ball over on the baseline after being called for a travel. Samford then called timeout and on the game-winning possession sophomore Gregg Wooten found Andy King breaking towards the basket for a contested layup. On the play, King was fouled by UTSA's Tyler Wood and made the second of two free throws to secure the victory, 74-73.
"On the last play in which Andy (King) was fouled, it's a play of ours that we do a good job of running and Gregg (Wooten) threw a tough pass and Andy made a great catch," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "But Josh's shot was huge and this was an outstanding win for us. We were 13 down in the second half and we once again found a way to come back and get the victory."
Samford (8-4) overcame a 13-point deficit, 49-36 with 14:48 to play in the second half, and earned its fourth win of the season in which it rallied at least 10 points down.
Midway through the final period, the Bulldogs used two free throws from Bedwell, a 3-pointer by John Peterson and back-to-back 3-pointers from King to trim UTSA's lead to 52-50 with 10:34 remaining. Samford's game-changing 11-0 run proved to be a part of the Bulldogs' 20-8 stretch that trimmed the Roadrunners' advantage to 57-56 with less than eight minutes to play.
Samford's Josh Bedwell came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points, 15 of which were scored in the second half. The Bulldogs' senior sharpshooter from Hartselle, Ala., finished 6-of-12 from the field and 5-of-8 from 3-point range. With his brilliant shooting performance, Bedwell tied his season high of 21 points, which he accomplished against Auburn.
Davis finished Monday's game with 17 points and seven rebounds, while King also came off the bench to provide a much-needed second-half spark. King tallied 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range and registered 13 of his points in the final period. Davis turned in a 5-of-10 performance from beyond the arc and played a team-high 34 minutes for the Bulldogs.
Samford outscored UTSA (6-3) 46-19 in bench scoring. In their 12 games this season, the Bulldogs' reserves have outscored the opponents' bench players nine times.
The Roadrunners' Devin Gibson registered a triple-double Monday as he accumulated 17 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds. UTSA's senior guard from Houston, Texas, also tallied six steals and went a perfect 11-of-11 from the free-throw line.
Gibson was one of four Roadrunners to finish in double-figure scoring. Hill led the team with 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting, while Stephen Franklin followed with 16 points and Melvin Johnson III added 13 points and five rebounds.
Samford finished the game shooting 46.2 percent from 3-point range, but only 40 percent from the field. The Bulldogs made 18 3-pointers and only attempted 16 2-pointers.
"We scored 22 baskets tonight and made 18 3s," said Tillette. "We didn't do a good job of scoring the ball around the goal, but I have to give credit to No. 21 Gibson for UTSA. He's a really good player. He scored a triple-double and I'm just glad that he's a senior, so he won't be playing against us at our place next year."
UTSA shot 42.1 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from long range. The Roadrunners out-rebounded Samford 38-30.
The Bulldogs' Jeffrey Merritt turned in a complete game with nine rebounds, five points, three assists, a block and a steal. He entered Monday's contest ranked second in the conference with 8.1 rebounds per outing.
UTSA shot 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from 3-point range in the first half and took a 39-30 lead into the intermission. At the half, the Roadrunners were led in scoring by both Hill and Gibson who tallied nine points apiece. UTSA's Franklin added eight points in the opening period, while Johnson chipped in with seven points and five rebounds.
Both teams combined to make 15 3-point baskets in the first half of play. Samford knocked down eight shots from deep range and tallied a 44.4-percent mark (8-of-18) from beyond the arc in the opening period. All but two of the Bulldogs' first-half field goals came from 3-point range.
Samford was led offensively in the opening period by Davis' nine points as he turned in a 3-of-5 performance from beyond the arc. Bedwell chipped in with six points, while Kaylin Johnson and Wooten added five points apiece.
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Wednesday at 8:05 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs conclude their key two-game road trip against the Creighton Bluejays in a non-conference showdown to be held at the Quest Center Omaha (17,260) located in Omaha, Neb.
St. John's 62, Davidson 57
NEW YORK - D.J. Kennedy posted 17 points and nine rebounds, and St. John¹s held Davidson scoreless for the final five minutes of the game to take a 62-57 men's basketball victory over the Wildcats in the Holiday Festival in Madison Square Garden Monday night.
Davidson (5-5) will face St. Francis (N.Y.) in the consolation game at 7 p.m. tomorrow.
Brendan McKillop led Davidson with 17 points, and Jake Cohen added 14 points and eight rebounds after going 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Clint Mann collected 12 points and six rebounds.
Dwight Hardy scored 12 points for the Red Storm (6-3), and Justin Brownlee netted 11.
St. John¹s held Davidson to 34 percent shooting from the floor and forced 21 turnovers in the contest. The Wildcats made 16-of-18 free throws and hit nine triples, with five coming from McKillop.
Trailing 59-57, Davidson¹s JP Kuhlman had a 3-pointer from the top of the key rim out with 57 seconds left. Hardy missed a triple on the other end, but the Red Storm got an offensive rebound and Davidson was forced to foul with 16.8 seconds to play.
After Hardy hit 1-of-2 free throws, the OCats ran a play for McKillop, whose 3-point try hit a few spots on the rim before falling away. Hardy hit two from the charity stripe with three seconds left to seal the win.
Davidson trailed 51-46 with eight minutes to play but used a 9-4 run to tie the contest at 57-57 on a De¹Mon Brooks layup with 5:15 left. But that turned out to be the last Davidson basket.
The Wildcats were 6-of-20 from the field in the first half but led 27-24 at the break, thanks to a 12-of-13 effort from the free-throw line and holding the Red Storm to 39 percent from the floor.
#1 Duke 98, Elon 72
DURHAM, N.C. - Kyle Singler led five Blue Devils in double figures as No. 1 Duke defeated the visiting Elon Phoenix, 98-72, in non-conference men's basketball action from Cameron Indoor Stadium on Monday night. Elon rookie guard Jack Isenbarger led the Phoenix (4-7) with 21 points. The defending national champion Blue Devils remained unbeaten at 11-0 on the season.
Isenbarger netted 20+ for the second straight game and fifth time this season, knocking down 6-of-12 from the floor and converting on all eight free throw attempts. Senior Chris Long added 14 points to go along with five assists and four rebounds. Forward Roger Dugas contributed 11 points in the effort.
Duke's Singler dumped in a game-high 24 points, pulled down seven rebounds and dished five assists. Nolan Smith also nailed 9-of-11 field goals for 22 points in 21 minutes of action. With the win, Blue Devil head coach Mike Krzyzewski notched his 879th career victory, tying legendary Dean Smith as the winningest coach in the ACC.
An Isenbarger triple put Elon up 8-7 in the early goings of the first half, before Duke capitalized on Phoenix turnovers and scored 14 unanswered points in under three minutes to go on top, 21-8. Out of a timeout, Elon's Terrance Birdette drove to the basket and halted the run at the 11:55 mark and the Duke lead hovered around 12 for the next six minutes.
With the score 30-18 in favor of the home team, another quick scoring spurt by the Devils gave Duke the 44-24 advantage with 2:06 to play in the half. Duke would push its lead to as many as 21 before a Long three-pointer as the buzzer sounded made it an 18-points game, 49-31, at halftime.
Duke outgained Elon on the glass, 25-13, in the first half, including a 10-2 advantage on the offensive end. The Blue Devils scored 10 second-chance points and turned 12 Elon turnovers into 15 points.
The Phoenix scored the first five points of the second half to trim the Duke lead to 13, 49-36, and force a Devil timeout. The teams traded three-pointers before Singler scored nine of the next 13 Duke points to help the Blue Devils regain a 20-point advantage, 65-45, with 12:29 remaining.
Down 21 at the 10:10 mark, the Phoenix kept fighting and dumped in eight straight points in a minute of action to make it a 69-56 game. The lead still at 13 with 6:36 on the clock, an Andre Dawkins four-point play sparked the Devils and halted any chance of an Elon comeback.
For the game, Elon shot 43.1 percent from the floor while Duke was good on 49.2 percent of its attempts. The Phoenix hit 15-of-16 free throws for a season-best 93.8 percent from the line. Elon, who averages 10.1 three-pointers a game, connected on only seven against the Devils.
The Phoenix has a very quick turnaround as Elon goes on the road to take on Navy in the final game of 2010. Elon and Navy will battle on Wednesday, December 22 at 7 p.m.