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GREENSBORO -- The home struggles continued for UNCG Saturday afternoon, but the venue may not have made a difference against a red-hot Samford team.

The Bulldogs shot a blistering 65 percent in the second half to pull away for a 76-61 victory at Fleming Gym in the first-ever Southern Conference meeting between the two schools.

Samford (10-8, 5-4) is in its first year as a member of the Southern Conference North Division, and after the offensive clinic the Bulldogs put on, UNCG wouldn't mind to see the Bulldogs return to the Ohio Valley Conference.

The defeat marks the sixth straight for UNCG at Fleming. One more loss would match the longest home losing streak since the end of the 1991-92 and beginning of the 1992-93 seasons.

Bryan Friday scored 20 points and Josh Bedwell added 19 off the bench to pace the Bulldogs, who made 13-of-26 3-pointers overall and 6 of 10 in the second half. Josh Davis (13 points) and Andy King (11) also reached double-figures.

The Spartans saw a tight game at halftime slip away quickly behind a flurry of 3-pointers and backdoor layups created by Samford's constant movement with and without the basketball.

"You have to admire how efficient and precise and excellent Samford was in their offense," UNCG coach Mike Dement said. "If it wasn't happening to you, you'd say 'Wow, what a great display of offensive basketball.' "

Ben Stywall posted his league-leading seventh double-double (19 points, 14 rebounds) to lead UNCG and freshman Damian Eargle added 13 points. Mikko Koivisto returned to score 10 points after missing Thursday night's game with the flu.

But the Spartans (3-14, 2-6) had no answers in disrupting Samford's motion-filled attack despite trying virtually everything they had in the defensive arsenal. Dement tried traditional man-to-man, two different zones, a 1-3-1 trap and full court on-the-ball pressure -- it didn't matter.

"Defensively, nothing we threw at them was good until we fouled them," Dement said. "That was the only thing that kept them from scoring each time."

The game was tied at 17 with eight minutes in the first half, but Samford scored the next five points and never trailed again. The lead quickly swelled as Samford hit five of its first seven 3s to open the half.

UNCG's deficit reached 20 points (63-43) with 8:24 remaining and it never got closer than 12 the rest of the way. The Spartans shot 41 percent overall but did not fare well from 3, going 2 for 14. The two made 3-pointers matched a season-low.

Koivisto said the constant movement of the Bulldogs' offense was a challenge to defend despite its predictability.

"It's tough &ellipses; they keep moving and passing and cutting," the junior from Finland said. "They got a bunch of backdoors even when we knew it was coming."

Turnovers have plagued UNCG all year, but the 10 committed Saturday was the second-lowest total of the season. Even so, the efficient Bulldog's capitalized, converting them into 14 points.

"Each (turnover) is magnified," Dement said. "One feels like five."

Despite Samford's level of play, the fact of the matter is the Spartans have lost six straight in Fleming and both coaches and players remain mystified.

"I don't know why," Dement said of the skid. "I can't tell you why we haven't done well here or made any shots here."

The Spartans travel to Furman on Monday night and then have two more road games before returning to Greensboro to host Davidson at the Coliseum. They won't return to Fleming until Feb. 9.

With conference road victories over Appalachian State and Elon already, an extended road trip might not be all that bad.

"It's a strange thing that we have played better on the road &ellipses; not really sure what it is," Koivisto said. "Even though we had a couple of bad games, I think we're pretty confident going into Monday and picking up another one on the road."