Chattanooga holds off Samford for 79-72 win

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) Casey Jones scored 21 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and Chattanooga held off Samford for a 79-72 win Saturday night.

Eric Robertson also contributed 21 points, including five 3-pointers, and Justin Tuoyo added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Chattanooga (18-9, 11-3 Southern Conference), which shot 54 percent from the field on 50 attempts to win its second straight.

Chattanooga, which has won nine of its last 11 games, took the lead for good early in the second half during an 11-3 run that included two 3-pointers from Robertson and made it 47-40 with 14:42 to go.

Samford (12-16, 5-10) stayed close, cutting the gap to 53-51 with Michael Bradley's bucket at 10:51 before Chattanooga pulled away, taking its biggest lead of the game with Duke Ethridge's free throw that made it 70-58 with 3:14 to play.

Evan Taylor led Samford with 21 points, Tyler Hood had 16 and Darius Jones-Gibson 13.