BIRMINGHAM, Ala.  – The Wofford men's basketball team trailed by as many as 19 in the second half and rallied back to force overtime, but it wouldn't be quite enough as Samford prevailed 91-89 in the Pete Hanna Center on Sunday evening. Wofford went to overtime for the second time in three games and fell just short in both. With the loss, Wofford falls to 6-11 in the 2016-17 campaign and 1-3 in conference action, while Samford improves to 12-5 on the season and 3-1 in the Southern Conference.
 
Fletcher Magee led all scorers with 26 points, just one shy of his season high, on 8-17 from the field. Magee went 6-12 from beyond the arc and 4-6 from the free throw line. Eric Garcia finished with 22 points as the senior went 6-9 from the field, 5-7 from deep and a perfect 5-5 from the charity stripe. He also dished out eight assist and allowed just one turnover. Ryan Sawvell followed with 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Cameron Jackson also had a solid night and finished with 12 points and five rebounds, the fourth Terrier in double figures.
 
Samford also had four players in double figures, led by Wyatt Walker with 25 points and eight rebounds and point guard Christen Cunningham who recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 assists. Alex Thompson added 20 points.
 
The first half was controlled by the Bulldogs who didn't trail for the final 16 minutes of the half. Wofford cut it to 10 with two minutes to go but Alex Thompson made a three pointer to extend the lead back to 13 and Samford took a 37-24 lead into the locker room.
 
Out of the half, Samford maintained their first half momentum and led by 19 with 17:04 to go in the game, their largest lead of the contest. Sawvell made a layup and a jump shot on consecutive Wofford possessions to cut the lead to single digits at 60-51. Then, with seven minutes to go Garcia found Magee in the corner for a three and cut the lead to just three with Samford leading 62-69. Samford stretched the lead back to seven with just under two minutes left in regulation but Sawvell sunk a three and Jackson made a layup to pull the Terriers within two. Cunningham made two free throws with 18 seconds to go to extend the Samford lead back to four, but with 11 seconds left on the clock Garcia sunk a three to keep it within one.
 
With two seconds on the clock, Garcia threw up a three point attempt and was fouled on the shot, sending him to the line for three free throws. Garcia, the nation's leader entering the game at 96.1% from the line, sunk all three. Walker heaved a desperation three that would have gone if good but just missed and the teams went to overtime.
 
"We started playing the right way with some pop and ball movement and people being in the right places," said Wofford head coach Mike Young. "I thought we looked like a Wofford basketball team there in the second half."
 
The overtime period was back and forth throughout with neither team ever leading by more than three points. With the score knotted at 86, Thompson made a free throw and Cunningham made a layup to push the lead to three. With 11 seconds on the clock, Garcia again delivered and nailed a three pointer to tie the game back up. The game came down to the final possession. Cunningham missed a jumper but with two ticks on the clock Walker grabbed the offensive rebound and laid it up to help Samford hang on for a 91-89 victory.
 
After playing four games in eight days, the last two of which were on the road, Wofford has almost a week off before returning to play Saturday, Jan. 14 against Furman in Benjamin Johnson Arena. The women's basketball team takes on the Paladins at 2 p.m. and the men's matchup is slated for a 7 p.m. tip.