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Samford hit the road and faced The Bucs at Freedom Hall at Noon on February 14th. 5138 attendees to witness in real time, and eyes from across the nation were focused on The Bucs. The Bulldogs were trying to avoid being swept, meanwhile The Bucs were trying to firmly claim their stake atop SoCon Mountain.
First Half Catch Up
By this time in the season, The Bucs have made somewhat of a habit in keeping the score too close for comfort, or so far it’s almost a no brainer win. This first half was no exception. The Bucs seemed to struggle to keep up with The Bulldogs and all of their scoring, sometimes a deficit of 13 points for The Bucs to make up.
The stats don’t lie though, The Bucs had a decent shooting percentage for the first half. The Bucs shot 16-31 for FG’s, 3-8 for 3’s, and 2-3 on FT’s. Brian Taylor was coming in hot though, with 18 points in the first half alone to keep The Bucs in it.
Second Half Scramble
Coming into the second half, The Bucs were down only 1 point. Which, isn’t a lot, but how they got there is the problem. The Bulldogs seemed more dominant defensively prior to the break, however across most metrics The Bucs were the better shooter.
The Bucs in the second half of the contest were pretty consistent in their shooting compared to the first. ETSU shot 7-21 in FG’s, 2-8 in 3’s, and 15-19 for FT’s. However, The Bucs had a solid 3 point lead going into the final 4:34 of game play, but gave up 4 points from FG’s alone to The Bulldogs, handing them a chance at OT. With a 3 from Bulldog Jadin Booth, that finalized a necessary OT for The Bucs.
OT; Opportunity Toasted
68-68 going into OT. The Bucs really needed to keep their momentum and be consistent to get the lead and maintain it. That seemed almost impossible though, as The Bucs sent The Bulldogs to the FT line enough for 10 shots, 9 of which Samford made. That added onto the fact that The Bucs couldn’t make a basket during the entirety of OT apart from the final 30 seconds of the matchup (0-3 of 3’s, and 2-9 on FG’s). This essentially handed The Bulldogs a very vital win for their program, 82-72.
Takeaways
There’s no denying Brian Taylor II had a career night, but breaking his back didn’t hold enough weight where he could carry the team through the trenches. Taylor had more than the combined points as the next 2 players (Barkley and Morris III). Taylor also finished up the matchup going 11-18 on FG’s, 3-7 on 3’s, and 3-4 on FT’s. Taylor also had 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
The Bucs as a whole shot for 41% on FG’s, 25% for 3’s, 17-22 on FT’s. The Bucs had 34 rebounds overall, 15 assists, 12 turnovers, 4 blocks and season average 7 steals.
What’s next for The Bucs? They’re hitting the road and taking their talents down to Greenville, SC to face Furman on February 18th at 6:30.
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