Box Score
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Chicago State men’s basketball continued its six-game road swing tonight by dropping a 63-46 decision to Samford at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala. The Cougars slipped to 5-8 with the loss while the Bulldogs hiked their season record to 6-7.
The home team took an early 17-5 lead in the game’s opening seven-plus minutes with six points coming from senior Bryan Friday. Samford then scored 10 of the next 17 points in eight minutes to increase its lead to 27-12 that ended with a layup by junior Andy King at the 5:30 mark. A three-pointer from junior Christian Wall (New Orleans, La.) at 4:44 started a 13-9 scoring drive down the stretch to slice CSU’s deficit to 36-25 entering intermission with Wall tallying six points during the run.
The Bulldogs posted an 18-7 scoring drive in the first nine minutes of the second half thanks to five points from junior Josh Davis to hike their leading margin to 52-32 at the 11:01 mark. CSU later sliced Samford’s lead to 55-41 with a 9-3 run over a five-and-a half minute span which ended with a three-pointer by freshman Victor Scott (Chicago, Ill.) with 5:42 remaining in the game. The Cougars could get no closer than 14 points the rest of the way.
“We got beat by a very experienced team tonight who should do very well in their conference. We have to stay mentally tough through this long road stretch,” said CSU head coach Benjy Taylor following the game.
Lofton led Chicago State with 12 points and a game-high three steals, while Wall added nine points. Junior Carl Montgomery (Chicago, Ill.) posted eight points and a game-high seven rebounds, Jonathan Montgomery finished with seven points and junior Damian Windham (Indianapolis, Ind.) added five boards.
Samford was paced by 19 points from Davis and 15 points from Friday as both players converted on 6-of-11 from the field. Senior Trey Montgomery recorded 10 points to go along with a game-high five assists.
The Cougars will play their final game of the year 2009 in Louisiana on Wednesday night against SWAC member Southern University at SU’s F.G. Clark Activity Center in Baton Rouge. The game will tip-off at 7 p.m.
~CSU~