Samford trumps Furman 68-58

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) Darius Jones-Gibson scored 19 points with six assists to lead four in double figures and Samford made their free throws at the end to trump Furman 68-58 on Saturday.

Furman raced out to a 22-4 lead over the first 7 1/2 minutes, but went 7:48 without a point as Samford stormed back and it was tied at intermission at 29.

Samford (10-14, 3-8 Southern Conference) came out of the break on a 10-2 run and led 54-42 after Marcus Johnson's jumper with 5:20 left.

Devin Sibley's 3-pointer with 53 seconds left trimmed it to 59-53. At that point, the Paladins put Samford on the line, and the Bulldogs responded by hitting 9 of 10 down the stretch to hold on.

Tyler Hood had 17 points for Samford. Christen Cunningham added 12 points and Evan Taylor scored 10.

Stephen Croone led Furman (7-14, 4-6) with 28 points and eight boards.