THURSDAY'S SCORES
Belmont 99, @Samford 93 (OT)
Austin Peay 79, @Troy 74 (OT)
BELMONT 99, SAMFORD 93 (OT)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Behind 31 points and 11 rebounds from senior All-America candidate Dylan Windler, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Samford, 99-93, in overtime Thursday night to remain among the nation's unbeaten teams.
Belmont (6-0) completes its first undefeated month of November since 1994-95 - a season in which the Bruins went 37-2 and ascended to No. 1 in the nation in NAIA.
Belmont led 43-39 at halftime, and by as many as 13 in the second half, but Samford hung around behind strong guard play and free throw shooting.
A breakaway from Windler gave Belmont an 81-76 lead with 15 seconds left, but a Josh Sharkey 3-pointer cut the margin to two with 10 seconds left.
After one Nick Hopkins free throw gave Belmont a three point advantage, Samford found Kevion Nolan for a deep baseline 3-pointer with two seconds left that forced overtime at 82.
But in the extra session, huge offensive plays from Windler, senior Kevin McClain and freshman Grayson Murphy helped Belmont outscore the Bulldogs 17-11.
Aside from Windler's 31, Hopkins added 21, while Caleb Hollander had 16 points and eight rebounds.
Myron Gordon led Samford (7-2) with 22 points.
AUSTIN PEAY 79, TROY 74 (OT)
TROY, Ala. - Once more, Austin Peay State University men's basketball team had to shake off a slow start and rally to force overtime on the road.
But for the Governors, this one turned out a little differently as Austin Peay (3-4) persevered to defeat Troy (3-4) in a gutty 79-74 victory at Trojan Arena for the Governors first true road victory of the season.
A disconcerting recurring theme of late has been getting off to a slow start and Thursday night was unfortunately more of the same. Although Steve Harris hit 50 percent from the floor in the first half and Zach Glotta knocked down a pair of important three-pointers, it was first half defined by largely by defensive exploits. Both teams combined to hit just 21-of-67 (31.3 percent) from the floor and 15 first-half turnovers, although a late Trojan run handed the hosts a 31-24 lead at halftime.
The second half was an entirely different story. Both teams stepped up their shooting over the next 20 minutes and the Govs ripped off a 17-7 run to open the half, with Terry Taylor—held scoreless in the first half—accounting for eight of those points, the last off a three-pointer to give the Govs their first lead since the 14:50 mark of the first half.
Troy answered and the teams engaged in a wild back-and-forth that saw both snatch the upper hand at various times. A 6-0 Trojan run turned an Austin Peay lead into a five-point deficit at the eight-minute mark, but a Glotta three-pointer halted a four-minute scoring drought and soon the Governors had tied the game again.
Down three with 1:49 to go, Porter-Bunton took over, sinking two lay-ups and hitting two free-throws as the Govs went up five with under a minute remaining. But Darian Adams converted a three-point play for the Trojans and Javan Johnson collected a putback dunk with six seconds remaining to tie the game up. A Harris floater drew iron and the Govs were once more headed for overtime.
Glotta got the period off to a good start with a three, and after the teams traded buckets throughout the extra session, another Glotta long ball with 30 seconds remaining put the Govs back up a bucket. A missed Troy three was rebounded by Dayton Gumm, and the sophomore converted 3-of-4 at the line late to put the game away for the Govs.