HOMEWOOD, Ala. – After multiple weeks of escape acts in SoCon play, the Samford Bulldogs finally found a challenge they could not overcome. Only as a result, their 28-game home win streak is now gone.
The East Tennessee State Buccaneers defeated Samford 65-60 on Saturday, Jan. 25 at the Pete Hanna Center, handing the Bulldogs their first SoCon loss and only their fourth of the season.
“We were bad in every area of the game,” Samford coach Bucky McMillan said. “I don’t even know what happened.”
Despite the defeat, the Bulldogs sent off the nation’s second-longest home win streak with a bang, welcoming CBS Sports Network cameras to witness 4,723 fans pile into the Pete.
It was the second-largest basketball crowd in Pete Hanna Center history behind only the 5,116 present for Samford’s showdown with Stephen Curry’s Davidson Wildcats in Jan. 2009.
However, those fans witnessed an uncharacteristic offensive performance from the Bulldogs as they shot just 37.7% from the field and 7-for-20 from behind the arc.
Even though both figures were better than ETSU, which shot 35.3% and just 8-for-29 on 3-pointers, the Bucs held Samford at an arm’s length in the final minutes to secure the win.
“Offensively, it was as bad as I’ve ever seen,” McMillan said. “It’s almost like they thought the crowd could win us the game, because I’m going to tell you this, that dang crowd was phenomenal. What a job, and I just want to apologize to all the fans who came. They did their job and they absolutely delivered in every way, the fans did, and I’m really sorry that we didn’t play better for them because you don’t get many opportunities like that.”
Despite the poor form from deep, ETSU started red hot, making three of its first four 3-pointers during an 11-4 run to start the game.
However, that was the first of three acts in the first half, and the Bulldogs took advantage once the Bucs went cold from the field.
Trailing 17-8 with 12:53 left in the first half, Samford went on a 10-0 run thanks to 3-pointers from Rylan Jones and Lukas Walls. Isaiah West capped it with a go-ahead fast-break layup aided by a long Collin Holloway assist to take an 18-17 lead with 10:05 to go before the break.
The Bulldogs then pulled back away by eight with two Jaden Brownell buckets after ETSU briefly reclaimed a one-point lead.
However, the Bucs started the final act of the half shortly after and went on an 8-0 run to close the first half to tie the game at 29-29.
The two teams exchanged the lead over the first four minutes of the second half as each team made big 3-pointers, but Jones ended the sequence by giving Samford a 37-34 lead with a fast-break 3 at the 17:31 mark.
The Bulldogs then took the lead to five and held that advantage for a couple of minutes before ETSU put a scare in Samford.
Quimari Peterson hit a 3-pointer off a DJ Hughes offensive rebound and then a pull-up jumper to tie the game at 41-41 with 10:35 left. The score largely remained a stalemate until the Bucs retook the lead off a 7-0 run to go up 50-45 with 6:47 left.
Josh Holloway immediately responded on the other end to make it a one-possession game once again, which it remained until Trey Fort converted a big three-point play off an alley-oop, tying the game at 52-52 with 4:52 remaining in the game.
ETSU responded with an and-1 of its own, but Fort came up clutch again, tying the game up at 55-55 with a 3-pointer with just 3:07 left.
However, that would be Samford’s last big shot. The Bucs scored seven of the next 10 points to pull away for the victory and end the Bulldogs’ six-game win streak and 28-game home win streak.
After the game, McMillan promised the fans who came that the team would learn from the defeat and start a new home win streak.
However, he admitted that this was the first time that his team has lost a game they should have won on paper. Of their other three losses, two were to Power 4 bluebloods in Michigan State and Arizona, and the third was a heartbreaker to a Quad 2 Cornell team.
McMillan said this next stretch will determine whether this team can repeat as SoCon champions and make a return to March Madness.
“I expect us to bounce back even stronger, but this team hasn’t seen this kind of adversity yet, so I’m excited to see what we really are made of and who are the real and who are the pretenders,” McMillan said. “The good part for us is that a game like this happened right now instead of in Asheville in the conference tournament where your season’s over.”
Jones led Samford with 12 points and four assists while Collin Holloway posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Josh Holloway finished with nine points, five rebounds and four assists and Trey Fort earned eight points and three rebounds.
The Bulldogs dropped to 15-4 overall and 5-1 in SoCon play but still remain atop the conference standings, albeit in a tie with UNC-Greensboro. They’ll be back in action on the road on Thursday, Jan. 23 against Chattanooga with tipoff set for 6 p.m. on either ESPN2 or ESPNU.
Samford will return to the Pete Hanna Center on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 5 p.m. against the Wofford Terriers. Only 5 home games remain for the Samford Bulldogs. Get to a game!
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Article by Andrew Simonson. Follow his work on X and Instagram @andrewtsimonson.