Job Not Finished Yet, Samford Beats Mercer
No upset here, Samford takes care of business with a 70-57 win over Mercer. The Bulldogs were powered by senior guards Rylan Jones and Garrett Hicks who had 30 combined points. Samford’s depth and senior leadership was not going to let a repeat of last year’s first round exit happen again.
Samford did not look like they had not played a game in a week while also having an early tip. When asked by Samford Scoop on how they were able to start out well, Bucky McMillan knew his team would step up.
“We were able to get some rest and this is the healthiest we have been in a long time. These guys know the drill, they know the routine. It’s a business trip for these guys, it didn’t matter if we played at 6:00am they would be ready.”
They controlled the game from start to finish thanks in large part to those aforementioned seniors. It was also Samford’s defense who showed up today holding Mercer to just 22% from three. Bucky McMillan pointed that out in his post game opening statement.
“This time of year it is going to be about defense and rebounding. That was the biggest factor in this game. The teams that can win this tournament are not going to be teams that make every three-point shot.”
Samford also won the rebounding battle and held Mercer to 22 points in the paint. Mercer had great success in the paint in the last matchup with 58 points there. Defense and rebounding travels and that was a big difference how Samford got it done today.
Garrett Hicks played his best game in a Samford uniform today with his 15 points. He also played very well defensively and also got to throw down a dunk after picking up a loose ball. It’s so important to have seniors who know when to step up in the big moments. Rylan Jones also had 15 points of his own.
Samford came into Asheville last year and lost as the two seed. When asked by Samford Scoop if that was brought up leading to today, senior leader Jermaine Marshall said that was in the past.
“Not really, we moved past that. We have a different team now and we know what we are capable of. We know that we are one of the best teams in the league and we just have to go out there and play like it.”
Well Samford definitely did that as they led for over 35 minutes of this game. Marshall did a little bit of everything today with his 10 points and eight rebounds. Achor Achor was great as well, playing 27 minutes and had 12 points with four rebounds.
This team is, of course, happy to win their first game but that is not the end goal. It is just the first step in the right direction. To quote the late, great Kobe Bryant, “Job’s not finished. The job finished?”
The Bulldogs now await the winner of Furman-Western Carolina for a 3:00pm central time tip tomorrow afternoon. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
