Samford 75, Jacksonville 58
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Samford University basketball team turned in its best defensive performance of the 2013-14 season Friday at Veterans Memorial Arena as the Bulldogs earned a 75-58 road victory against the Jacksonville University Dolphins in non-conference play.
“We did a much better job on the defensive end tonight and it really helped us to get this big road win,” said Samford head coach Bennie Seltzer. “We’ve recently had some more time off between games, so we’ve really had an opportunity to work hard in practice on the defensive end and to do some things to improve. Early in the season, it was hard to work on our team, because we were always prepping for the next game. It felt really good to get things right on the defensive end tonight.”
Samford (5-8) limited Jacksonville (3-7) to a 38.3 percent shooting performance from the field and 58 total points. The Bulldogs’ previous best defensive outing was 62 points allowed versus Martin Methodists in their season-opener Nov. 8.
Samford’s win snapped a nine-game road losing streak dating back to Feb. 14, when the Bulldogs earned their first all-time victory at Furman.
Against Jacksonville on Friday, sophomore forward Tim Williams scored a game-high 25 points and finished a near-perfect 12-of-13 from the field. The Bulldogs’ talented 6-foot-8 native of Chicago, Ill., returned to form following a recent hip injury and played a game-high 35 minutes. Williams also pulled down three rebounds and added a trio of steals.
Samford’s Tyler Hood was nearly as precise from the field Friday and finished 8-of-10 from the floor en route to a season-high 19 points. The Bulldogs’ junior forward bested his previous season-high of 15 points, which he tallied at No. 23-ranked Indiana on Nov. 15. Hood also registered seven rebounds, an assist, a steal and a blocked shot versus Jacksonville.
Samford’s defense immediately proved to be a factor Friday as the Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead and took a convincing 33-17 advantage into the halftime locker room. Samford closed out the first half with a key 6-0 run, which was capped off by Connor Miller’s driving layup at the buzzer.
Miller, the Bulldogs’ hardnosed junior guard from Stanley, Wis., pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds and added five points, two assists and a steal.
Samford’s Raijon Kelly, who picked up two quick fouls early in the first half, only scored four points in the opening period, but registered nine critical points in the final 20 minutes of action. The Bulldogs’ Preseason Southern Conference First Team performer finished with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and added four assists, two rebounds and a steal.
Kelly helped buoy Samford in the second half as the Bulldogs extended their lead to 21 late in the game. After building its early advantage, Samford still outpaced Jacksonville in the second half, 42-41.
The Bulldogs turned in a sizzling 58.2-percent shooting performance from the floor and knocked down 3-of-9 total 3-point attempts. Samford also out-rebounded the Dolphins, 40-28, and dominated Jacksonville in points in the paint, 54-34.
Jacksonville could not figure out Samford’s high-pressure, 2-3 zone defense and only shot 16.7 percent (4-of-24) from beyond the arc. Javon Dawson led the Dolphins with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Marcel White added 14 points and Marcellous Bell added 10.
True freshman Jordan Capps turned in a solid game Friday for the Bulldogs and finished with six points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal. Samford’s high-flying native of Suwanee, Ga., earned 11 minutes of playing time and threw down a thunderous two-handed dunk.
The Bulldogs’ Russell Wilson also played well against Jacksonville as he tallied four points, five rebounds, five assists and a steal in 32 minutes of action. Wilson was forced into action early due to Kelly’s foul trouble and helped Samford jump out to its quick lead.
Samford’s starting point guard Isaiah Williams did not play Friday due to a minor injury. He will return to full practice after Christmas and is expected to play against Marquette.
Furman 86, Liberty 83
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Sophomore Stephen Croone poured in a career-high 40 points and Furman held off a furious Flames rally to down Liberty, 86-83, in non-conference men's basketball action Friday evening on YP Court at Timmons Arena.
Croone, a native of Covington, Ga., connected on 11-of-16 shots from the field and 13-of-21 free throw attempts to become the first Paladin to reach 40 points since Roy Simpson netted 45 versus East Carolina on February 5, 1972. The point guard, who also pulled down a career-best 11 rebounds to notch his first double-double of the season, established a new Timmons Arena scoring record.
After leading 43-32 at intermission, Furman held a 49-41 advantage with 16:30 to play when sophomore Kendrec Ferrara ignited a 14-1 run with seven straight points. The forward knocked down back-to-back jumpers in the lane to begin the run before draining a three-pointer in transition to put the Paladins ahead 58-42. William Gates Jr. followed with eight straight points, including consecutive treys, to push the Paladin lead to 66-42 with 12:26 to play.
Liberty (5-7) answered with a 19-4 spurt of its own to trim the margin to 70-61 on Joe Retic's free throw with under 6:30 remaining, and the Flames cut the Paladin lead to 82-79 when Antwan Burrus scored in the paint with just 1:11 to play.
Charlie Reddick drew a foul and converted on both free throw attempts to restore the five-point lead, but Retic answered for Liberty with a driving layup to make it 84-81. After Croone made 1-of-2 at the line on the Paladins' next possession, Burrus answered to bring the Flames within two at 85-83.
The Paladins (5-6) ran down the shot clock to under five seconds on the next possession and Ferrara missed a jumper from the left side of the lane with three seconds left. Liberty's Thomasz Gielo grabbed the rebound, but the forward fell to the ground as the buzzer sounded. The officials determined the Gielo traveled, giving the ball back to Furman, and they placed 1.2 seconds on the clock. Ferrara made 1-of-2 free throws after being fouled on the ensuing inbounds pass and time expired as the Flames failed to hold onto a long pass with under a second to play.
Furman shot 56.3 percent for the floor, including 10-of-19 from three-point range, to improve to 3-0 all-time versus Liberty and 3-0 this season against Big South Conference competition. Gates came off the bench to join Croone in double figures with 16 points while Ferrara added 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
Burrus paced four Flames in double digits with 19 points. Gielo and Retic tallied 16 points apiece and John Caleb Sanders hit 4-of-7 triples to contribute 15 points. Liberty shot 45.2 percent and converted on 18-of-27 free throw attempts while also holding a 40-32 rebounding margin.
Trailing 25-21 with six minutes left in the first half, Furman finished the period on a 22-7 run. Croone, who netted 23 of his game-high 40 points in the first half, scored 12 during the spurt.
Georgia State 73, Georgia Southern 61
ATLANTA, Ga. – In a game of runs, Georgia Southern came up just short against Georgia State on Friday night in Atlanta, falling 73-61. The Panthers strung their lead out to 12-points late in contest that had 14 total lead changes.
“I was happy with the way we played tonight, we adjusted well at halftime to what Georgia State was doing,” said Head Coach Mark Byington. “I thought our guards did a good job of directing us, but we didn’t do a great job finishing at the rim. We had been shooting well at the free throw line recently, but we didn’t have the rhythm tonight.”
Brian Holmes led the Eagles (6-7) in their final non-conference matchup with the Panthers in a career night. He finished the game with 19 points and seven assists. Overall three Eagles finished in double figures with Jelani Hewitt posting 15 and nine rebounds while Tre Bussey had 13 points in 39 minutes of play.
As a team, Georgia Southern shot 42.3 percent from the field and downtown. The Eagles were 22-of-52 from the field and 11-of-26 from the bonusphere. Southern had 13 assists on the night, a season-best against Division I opposition.
Manny Atkins led the Panthers (5-6) with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Ryan Harrow scored 22 points while R.J. Hunter had 16 points on the night.
The Eagles trailed 36-29 at the break, but came out with an 11-3 run to start the second half to post their first lead of the second stanza. The Panthers, however, took the lead with 13:02 left in the second half and didn’t look back, stringing together a 12-2 run to take control of the contest.