Troy State Runs Past Samford :: Jon Mills and Cornell Felton record career-highs in defeat

Jan. 26, 2003

TROY, Ala. - Jon Mills scored a career-high 15 points and Cornell Felton had a career-high 10 rebounds but Troy State went 14-34 (41 percent) from three-point range and forced 23 Bulldog turnovers to take a 66-48 Atlantic Sun Conference men's basketball victory at Trojan Arena on Sunday.

Mills went 4-6 from the floor, 3-4 from three point range, and 4-4 from the three throw line. Felton grabbed eight rebounds in the first half as the Bulldogs held a 16-11 rebounding edge at the half. In the second half, the Trojans out-rebounded Samford 21-14. Tyson Dorsey made four second half three-pointers to finish with 12 points and J. Robert Merritt scored 10 points for the Bulldogs who drop to 7-11 overall and 3-4 in conference play.

Troy State (15-4, 6-1 A-Sun) remained tied for the top spot in the A-Sun South division by scoring 33 points off turnovers. Samford's 48 points are the fewest Troy State has allowed in Don Maestri's 21 seasons head coach of TSU.

Ben Fletcher was 5-13 from three point range to lead the Trojans with 15 points. Three Trojans scored nine points as nine TSU players scored in the game.

Troy State took a 32-25 lead into the locker room as Samford ended the half on an 8-3 run to pull to with seven points. The Bulldogs shot 50 percent from the field in the first but were held to 33 percent in the second half.

Samford scored the first four points of the second half to draw to within 32-29, but Troy answered with a pair of three pointers to extend the lead back to nine points. The Trojans first six baskets in the second half were all three-pointers. Troy State had 14 fast break points, all in the second half as it extended its lead over the final ten minutes of the game.

Both teams combined to shoot 24-62 from three point range. Samford went 6-6 from the free throw line making it two straight game with a 100 percent free throw percentage. The Bulldogs have made 22 straight free throws dating back to the Jacksonville State game.

Samford will travel to Florida Atlantic on Thursday, Jan. 30, to face the Owls in a 6 p.m. CT game in Boca Raton.