RICHMOND, Ky. -- Samford University, trailing 33-17 in the opening minutes of the second half, went on a 44-15 run, spurred by 8-9 shooting from three-point range over the next 14 minutes, to remain undefeated in Ohio Valley Conference play at 6-0 by rallying past Eastern Kentucky University, 67-61, Saturday night at EKU's McBrayer Arena.
Eastern led 30-17 at the break and a three-point shot by junior guard Zach Ingles put the lead at 16 (33-17) with 19:27 left.
However, the Bulldogs, now 11-6 overall, got two traditional three-point plays and three three-pointers over the next four and one-half minutes to slice the margin to five at 39-34.
From that point on, Samford hit layups, three-pointers or free throws the rest of the way in building as much as a 13-point lead (61-48) at the 4:00 minute mark.
Eastern cut the margin to six at 62-56 with 46 seconds left but that was as close the Colonels could come before a Matt Witt layup with two seconds left provided the final six-point deficit, 67-61.
"Give Samford a lot of credit," said EKU head coach Travis Ford. "They made shots to get back in it and are very well-coached.
"We had several open looks but couldn't make our three-point shots. I'm disappointed in that our guys gave in a little bit.
We played great for 25 minutes and then things that we had taken away from them earlier, we stopped competing and making sure not to give them wide open looks.
"But this is a long season and there is a lot of basketball yet to be played. Murray is next and we'll be back in here Monday to prepare hard for another really good basketball team."
Ingles and junior center Alonzo Hird led Eastern with 11 points each. Senior forward Michael Haney pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the Colonels to their seventh straight game to defeat the opponents on the glass as EKU won the rebounding battle, 30-26.
Samfor forward J. Robert Merritt, who scored 22 points in the second half, led all scorers in the game with 24 points as he canned 9-14 shots from the floor, including 5-9 from three-point range. Guards Joe Ross Merritt and Jerry Smith each added 13 points to the Bulldogs' attack.
Eastern hit but 40.7 percent from the field, including just 35.5 percent in the second half. Samford warmed up in the second half, hitting 14-20 (70 percent) second period shots from the floor, making 53.8 percent for the game.
From three-point range, EKU was 7-21 (33.3 percent), while Samford hit 11-18 (61.1 percent).
Eastern, now 11-6 overall and 3-3 in the OVC, hosts Murray State Thursday night (Jan. 27) in a 7:30 p.m. EST contest.
