'Hawks stay frigid in loss to Samford

~ Southeast shot 36.5 percent from the field in a 68-53 road loss.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Southeast Missouri State reverted back to its usual offensive form and could not slow Samford down in the second half.

The result was a bad way for the Redhawks to start their two-game Ohio Valley Conference road trip to Alabama.

Samford, hitting 11 of its first 14 shots in the final period, pulled away for a 68-53 victory Monday night that dropped Southeast to 4-5 overall and 1-3 in OVC play.

"We just couldn't get them under control in the second half," Southeast coach Gary Garner said. "And it was the same old, same old for us offensively."

Southeast has had only one strong shooting game all season, that coming Friday against NAIA Central Methodist, as the Redhawks hit 59.2 percent in a blowout victory.

But the Redhawks entered Monday's contest hitting just 40.7 percent of their field-goal attempts -- and that will go down after they shot 36.5 percent against Samford (4-4, 1-1).

"You just can't win on the road shooting 36 percent," Garner said. "We're just not making shots, that's our Achilles' heel. I thought maybe we had gotten over the hump the other night."

Senior guard Roy Booker, the Redhawks' leading scorer this season at more than 19 points per game, was the only Southeast player who did much of anything offensively Monday.

Booker had 17 first-half points and finished with 24 points, as he hit nine of 18 field-goal attempts, including five of 10 3-pointers.

The rest of the Redhawks combined to shoot just 10 of 34. Take away senior center Ketshner Guerrier's three-for-five shooting -- he scored 10 points -- and the figure gets even worse.

"It's hard to win when we're shooting that low as a team," Booker said. "We're too inconsistent."

Junior guard Terrick Willoughby, the Redhawks' second-leading scorer, continued his shooting problems of the past several games. Willoughby was one of nine from the field, including one of seven on 3-pointers.

Southeast entered the contest leading the OVC in 3-point shooting at 40.1 percent, but they were at 32 percent against Samford. Take out Booker's five for 10, and the other Redhawks were three of 15.

"I've just been struggling," Willoughby said. "Overall we're getting good shots, we're just not knocking them down."

Samford junior guards Jerry Smith and Randall Gulina both had career nights to lead the Bulldogs. They each scored 19 points after entering play averaging about eight points apiece.

Booker hit two early 3-pointers as Southeast grabbed a 6-2 lead, but Samford answered with a 15-0 run. The Redhawks found themselves facing an uphill battle the rest of the way.

Booker's hot hand -- he scored 15 of the Redhawks' first 18 points without missing a shot -- helped pull Southeast within 19-18.

Samford answered with a 9-0 burst to go up 28-18. It was 30-20 when Guerrier scored eight points during a 10-0 run that pulled Southeast into a 30-30 tie in the closing seconds of the first half.

But Smith sliced through Southeast's defense for a layup with one second remaining, putting the Bulldogs ahead 32-30 at the intermission.

Southeast never caught up, thanks to the Bulldogs' hot hand over the final 20 minutes. They shot 68.4 percent and made five of seven 3-pointers in the second half. Samford wound up shooting 49 percent for the game and hit 10 of 23 from beyond the arc.

"We just couldn't slow them down in the second half," Willoughby said.

Samford scored the first basket of the second half -- a 3-pointer by senior forward J. Robert Merritt, who had 11 of his 16 points after the break -- and had control the rest of the way.

The Bulldogs opened up a 58-46 lead with under seven minutes remaining. Booker scored five quick points to make it 58-51, but Samford finished out the victory with a game-ending 10-2 burst.

"It's tough playing from behind. We've been doing it all year," Booker said.

The Redhawks play at Jacksonville (Ala.) State Wednesday night.

Chappell leaves team

Junior forward John Chappell has left the Redhawks and plans to transfer to another school.

Garner said it was a mutual agreement and that he wished Chappell well wherever he winds up. Chappell, a junior college transfer, had not appeared in a game with the Redhawks.

"John left in good academic standing and will be academically eligible to play at another school," Garner said. "We did not play him in games so he would retain his full year of eligibility. If he had played even for a few seconds and then left, he would have lost an entire year of eligibility."