BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Samford used a 23-2 run midway through the first half and held off two JU rallies to claim a 70-51 victory over the Dolphins Wednesday night in Trans America Athletic Conference action in Birmingham.

Samford improves to 5-7 overall and 2-1 in the Trans America Conference with the win, while Jacksonville falls to 9-3 and 2-1 in league play.

Marc Salyers led the Bulldogs with 17 points and seven rebounds, and was joined by Cornell Felton with 14 and Derrick Jones with 12. Felton played a career-high 37 minutes and recorded his second consecutive career point total, topping his previous mark of 11 points set against Northern Iowa on Dec. 30. The Bulldogs shot 28-of-55 (.509) from the field and 10-of-28 from the arc, including Felton's 3-for-4 from the arc. Brandon Williams led the Dolphins with 18 points and Shawn Platts added 13, but Samford's solid defensive effort forced JU into 5-of-20 shooting from three-point range and 19 turnovers that led to 13 Bulldog points.

"This win is a tribute to our kids for understanding what we wanted them to do and for executing our game plan," said head coach Jimmy Tillette. "I feel much better about our team tonight. Jacksonville is a good basketball team and tonight we won the game by playing Samford basketball."

JU jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead and Samford did not score its first basket until the 14:34 mark, the longest stretch for the Bulldogs this season. But Samford turned a 7-5 deficit into a 28-9 lead over a 7:04 stretch of the first half and never looked back.

Freshman Sebastian Sachse scored five straight to give the Bulldogs a 10-7 lead, and Jones followed with five consecutive points to extend the margin to 15-7 with 12:36 to play in the half. Samford led by as many as 16 before the Dolphins closed the half with a 16-7 run, and the Bulldogs led 35-25 at the break.

Salyers scored eight in an 18-3 second-half run that thwarted JU's comeback attempt, and Felton also added eight in the final period, including shooting 2-for-2 from the arc. Samford shot 50 percent from the floor and connected on 10 treys in the game. The Bulldogs committed only four turnovers in the second half and 10 for the game.

"Jacksonville was holding teams to 38 percent shooting, and we shot 50 percent," Tillette added. "I thought when they went zone we would have some success, but there were times when we had some good looks and just didn't knock them down."

The Dolphins pulled within seven, 40-33, at the 15:21 mark of the second half on a pair of Williams' free throws, and then had a chance to cut the lead to five following a Samford turnover. However, Williams turned the ball over in transition and Samford responded with four different players hitting consecutive three-pointers to ignite a 18-2 run to take a 58-35 lead with 9:23 to play.

Samford returns to the road this weekend, traveling to Florida to face Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton on Jan. 6 and Central Florida in Orlando on Jan. 8.

Jacksonville University vs Samford (1/3/01 at Seibert Hall, Birmi)

---

• Box Score
• Play Analysis

---

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS

---

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Jacksonville University vs Samford
1/3/01 6:00 p.m. at Seibert Hall, Birmingham, Ala.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Jacksonville University
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
13 KABA, Ali........... f  0-0    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   2   0  0  1  0  0   8
44 HUNTER, Kris........ c  2-7    0-0    1-2    2  5  7   1   5  0  1  1  0  30
00 PLATTS, Shawn....... g  5-10   1-4    2-3    2  2  4   2  13  1  3  0  0  30
01 FRAZIER, Toby....... g  1-2    0-1    0-0    1  1  2   2   2  3  1  0  0  15
02 WILLIAMS, Brandon... g  6-15   3-10   3-5    0  2  2   2  18  4  4  0  0  29
03 SIMMONS, Willie.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
05 BROWN, Tabari.......    2-2    0-0    0-2    0  2  2   0   4  0  1  0  1  13
20 DANIELS, James......    3-5    1-3    0-0    0  0  0   0   7  0  2  0  1  14
40 JONES, Johnny.......    1-1    0-0    0-0    4  4  8   2   2  0  3  1  0  19
41 SHEPPARD, Kevin.....    0-2    0-2    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  5  1  0  1  25
42 HOWARD, Jeff........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
45 ROBERTSON, Antwan...    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   0   0  0  2  0  0  12
   TEAM................                            1  1
   Totals..............   20-44   5-20   6-12  10 19 29  12  51 13 19  2  3 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-24 45.8%   2nd Half:  9-20 45.0%   Game: 45.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-10 20.0%   2nd Half:  3-10 30.0%   Game: 25.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  1-3  33.3%   2nd Half:  5-9  55.6%   Game: 50.0%    1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Samford
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
02 Marc Salyers........ f  7-17   2-6    1-2    4  3  7   4  17  2  3  0  3  36
21 Derrick Jones....... f  4-9    2-7    2-3    1  1  2   3  12  2  2  0  0  26
52 Sebastian Sachse.... c  2-3    1-2    0-0    3  1  4   3   5  0  1  0  0  24
20 Chris Weaver........ g  3-11   1-7    0-0    2  5  7   1   7  6  1  0  1  39
32 Cornell Felton...... g  5-6    3-4    1-1    0  2  2   1  14  3  1  0  2  37
05 Eddie Harper........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
10 Will Gardner........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
24 Corey Green.........    4-6    0-1    0-0    0  2  2   1   8  3  1  0  1  16
30 Gabe Skypala........    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   2  2  0  0  0   9
33 Tyson Dorsey........    2-2    1-1    0-0    0  1  1   1   5  0  1  0  0   8
44 Phillip Ramelli.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
   TEAM................                            2  2
   Totals..............   28-55  10-28   4-6   10 18 28  15  70 18 10  0  7 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-29 48.3%   2nd Half: 14-26 53.8%   Game: 50.9%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-14 28.6%   2nd Half:  6-14 42.9%   Game: 35.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-4  75.0%   2nd Half:  1-2  50.0%   Game: 66.7%   0,1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials:
Technical fouls: Jacksonville University-None. Samford-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Jacksonville University.......   25   26  -   51
Samford.......................   35   35  -   70

---

Play Analysis

---

Jacksonville University vs Samford (1/3/01 - Period 2 00:00)

POINTS OFF TURNOVERS        1   2 - Tot
Jacksonville University.    4   7 -  11
Samford.................   13  11 -  24

POINTS IN PAINT             1   2 - Tot
Jacksonville University.   16   6 -  22
Samford.................   18  14 -  32

2ND CHANCE POINTS           1   2 - Tot
Jacksonville University.    7   5 -  12
Samford.................    7   3 -  10

FAST BREAK POINTS           1   2 - Tot
Jacksonville University.    0   0 -   0
Samford.................    0   0 -   0

BENCH POINTS                1   2 - Tot
Jacksonville University.    4   9 -  13
Samford.................    6   9 -  15

SCORE TIED BY               1   2 - Tot
Jacksonville University.    0   0 -   0
Samford.................    0   0 -   0

LEAD GAINED BY              1   2 - Tot
Jacksonville University.    2   0 -   2
Samford.................    2   0 -   2