HOMEWOOD, Ala. – Vonterius Woolbright led three Western Carolina players in double figures with 18 points, but Samford used a big run in the middle stages of the second half to gain separation and emerge with a 74-65 win over the Catamounts on Saturday evening inside the Pete Hanna Center.

Samford improves to 14-7 overall and 8-0 in the Southern Conference. WCU falls to 11-10 and 4-4.
 
Woolbright saw his streak of 20-point-plus games end at three straight but finished as the top scorer for WCU for the fourth straight game. Tyzhaun Claude tallied 17 points followed by Russell Jones Jr with 10. Claude and Woolbright both grabbed a team-best six rebounds.  
 
Playing in his first game since Nov. 30 due to injury, Ques Glover led the Bulldogs with a game-high 20 points. Jermaine Marshall recorded a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Bubba Parham added 12 points followed by Logan Dye with 11.
 
A pair of 3-pointers by Harris and Jackson gave the Catamounts an early 6-4 lead. Samford used a four-point spurt to lead 13-8 before a Bernard Pelote 3-pointer and a pair of free throws evened the contest at 13 just before the midpoint of the opening period. After Pelote's 3-pointer put the Catamounts ahead 16-15 with 8:50 remaining, Samford used an 11-3 run over the next six minutes to claim a 26-19 advantage. The Bulldogs led by a first half-best 10 points, 32-22, before a Woolbright dunk sent the Catamounts into halftime trailing 32-24.
 
WCU opened the second half on a 10-2 run, tying the game at 34 with a Jones Jr 3-pointer at the 15:18 mark. The Bulldogs went back on top on their next possession and led 38-37 following a Glover jumper with 14:10 to play. Jackson gave the Catamounts a 40-38 lead on a 3-pointer at the 13:47 mark before a 15-1 Samford run gave the hosts a 53-41 edge with just over eight minutes left. Samford's lead wavered between eight and 13 points before a pair of Glover free throws gave the hosts a game-high 16-point lead, 68-52, just after the under-four media timeout. WCU didn't go quietly, finishing the game on a 9-2 run as Woolbright emerged as the team's leading scorer for the night thanks to a pair of free throws with 11 seconds remaining.
 
Samford outrebounded WCU 36-30. The Bulldogs finished 23-for-56 (41.1 percent) from the field and 6-for-22 (27.3 percent) behind the 3-point line but were 22-for-24 (91.7 percent) at the free throw line. WCU was 19-for-48 (39.6 percent) from the field, 8-for-22 (36.4 percent) behind the arc, and 19-for-25 (76 percent) at the charity stripe.
 
The Catamounts return to the friendly confines of Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center on Wednesday, welcoming The Citadel for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
 
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