SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford men's basketball team (14-13, 8-6) suffered a tough 76-68 loss to the Samford Bulldogs (20-7, 10-4) on Saturday afternoon at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. The Terriers controlled a 16-point advantage in the second half but could not hold on for the win.
 
The Terriers shot 43.1 percent (22-51) for the game while knocking down six threes at a 24 percent rate. Samford finished the afternoon shooting 45.8 percent (27-59) from the field and made nine threes at a 33.3 percent clip. Wofford knocked down 18 of its 25 free throw attempts while the Bulldogs converted 13 of their 18 tries. Kyler Filewich knocked down a career-high six free throws.
 
Three Terriers reached double figures in the game with Kyler Filewich tying his career high of 18 points. Justin Bailey followed behind at 13 points along with 11 from Corey Tripp. Filewich grabbed nine rebounds and dished out three assists to accompany his 18 markers.
 
It was a physical battle down low, but Samford gained the edge on the glass 33-32. Wofford was led by Filewich's nine rebounds along with six by Jeremy Lorenz. Wofford scored 28 points in the paint compared to 22 by Samford. The Terriers finished with 12 second chance points while the Bulldogs had eight.
 
Wofford forced 11 turnovers that turned into seven steals. Justin Bailey paced the team with four steals while Kahmare Holmes, Luke Flynn, and Dillon Bailey tallied one each. Kyler Filewich had one rejection on the afternoon.
 
Samford won the opening tip, but the Terriers were able to get a stop on the first possession. On the other end of the court, Corey Tripp sunk a tough pull-up jumper to get Wofford on the board. The teams traded baskets over the next several minutes, but a 12-0 run allowed the Terriers to take an 18-7 lead with 10:23 remaining in the first half.
 
The Bulldogs were able to bring the game back within striking distance after hitting back-to-back threes to cut the lead to six. Wofford continued to respond as the team scored six unanswered points to bring the lead back to double-digits. Kahmare Holmes and Kyler Filewich cashed in three shots from the charity stripe along with a triple from Justin Bailey. The Terriers would hold a nine-point lead heading into the break, 34-25.
 
Wofford's defense was key in the first half, limiting Samford to 31 percent shooting from the field and allowing only four threes in the half. The Terrier bench provided a huge spark as the duo of Kahmare Holmes and Jeremy Lorenz totaled 10 points while the Samford bench scored zero in the first half.
 
Trey Fort of Samford, who finished with a game-high 36 points, knocked down a jumper to start the scoring off in the second half. Jackson Sivills responded on the next possession with a crucial deep ball to get the lead back to 10 points. Samford continued to be resilient, nailing another three along with a layup to bring the game back to five points with just over 18 minutes of action remaining.
 
The Terriers would then embark on a 12-1 run over the next three minutes with Justin Bailey and Kahmare converting defense into offense after a steal from each player. Wofford would lead 49-33, its largest lead of the game, with 16:02 left in the contest.
 
Samford had an answer, rattling off 14 unanswered points to tie the game at 54-all with under 10 minutes remaining. The 14 points were part of a 24-5 run that lasted over six minutes of game time. After the 19-point swing Samford would take a 59-56 lead. Wofford would retake the lead after a pair of free throws were made from Justin Bailey.
 
After going up 66-64 with 3:19 left in the game, Samford scored six-straight to capture a four-point advantage with just over a minute left in the game. Wofford cut it to two with another pair of free throws from Justin Bailey, but the Terriers could not complete the last-minute comeback, losing 76-68.
 
The Terriers will be back in action on Wednesday, February 19, as the team will travel to Lexington, Virginia, to take on VMI at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN+. The Terriers have won three-straight road contests heading into the matchup on Wednesday.