Saturday, January 28
Birmingham, Ala.
5:00 pm
Davidson College
15-5, 9-1SoCon
74
at
77
Samford
7-13, 4-5SoCon
1
2
F
Davidson
26
48
74
Samford
42
35
77
Nik Cochran
Samford Deals Men's Basketball First League Loss
1/28/2012 8:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford's Will Cook hit a pair of free throws with 1.2 seconds left, and the Bulldogs stole a long Davidson inbounds pass to secure a 77-74 Southern Conference men's basketball victory Saturday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center.
It was the first SoCon loss of the season for Davidson, which dropped to 9-1.
Trailing 73-71, the Wildcats (15-5, 9-1 SoCon) got a defensive stop and worked the ball into De'Mon Brooks in the post on their ensuing possession. But the junior's turnaround jumper was off the mark, and the 'Cats were forced to foul Connor Miller.
He made both free throws with 6.9 seconds left, but Nik Cochran raced down the court and answered with a triple from the wing to make the score 75-74. Davidson fouled Cook with 1.3 on the clock.
Brooks led the Wildcats with 20 points and eight rebounds, while Cochran finished with 18 points and seven assists. JP Kuhlman scored 14.
Jeffrey Merritt led Samford (7-13, 4-5 SoCon) with 20 points, and Drew Windler scored 15. Raijon Kelly and Miller netted 12, and Cook finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The 'Cats dug themselves a 16-point hole in the first half, their largest halftime deficit of the season, after shooting 35 percent and allowing Samford to shoot 54 percent from the field. Samford led from the tip to the final buzzer.
Not much went right for the Wildcats in the first 10 minutes of the game. Davidson was called for an administrative technical foul for hanging on the rim in warm-ups, and Windler made both free throws. That started a 14-6 run to open the game for the Bulldogs as Davidson hit just two field goals in the first five minutes.
Davidson cut the margin to 25-21 on a Tom Droney triple from the top of the key with 7:31 remaining in the period, but Samford responded by outscoring the Wildcats 17-5 for the rest of the half. Merritt had nine during the stretch, including a pair of 3-pointers, as the Bulldogs led 42-26 at the break.
Consecutive triples by Kuhlman, Cochran and Chris Czerapowicz trimmed a 10-point margin to 67-64 with 3:48 to play and set the stage for the exciting finish.
The Wildcats finish a three-game road swing at Furman Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in Timmons Arena.
Game Notes: The loss broke an eight-game overall winning streak and a 12-game conference win streak for the Wildcats… It was Samford's first victory against Davidson in seven meetings.
Team Stats
DAV
SAM
FG%
.431
.525
3FG%
.387
.714
FT%
.800
.758
RB
34
25
TO
11
10
STL
2
8
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
6
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
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