Dec. 21, 2001
Box Score
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Chris Weaver scored 18 points to lead four Bulldogs in double figures as Samford defeated Morehead State 62-50 in non-conference basketball at Seibert Hall on Friday.
The game was the third win in five days for Samford (7-3, 4-0 A-Sun) and evened the Bulldogs' non-conference mark to 3-3 this season. Weaver started slowly with 1-of-7 shooting in the first half, but heated up in the second to shoot four of six and score 13 of his 18 points. Cornell Felton scored 11 points and Phillip Ramelli and Corey Green each added 10. Green and redshirt freshman Jon Mills each contributed four assists to lead the team, and Ramelli led the team with five rebounds. Ricky Minard led Morehead State (5-4) with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Samford shot 45 percent from the field, ending its streak of four consecutive games of shooting 50 percent or better. The Bulldogs held Morehead State to 40 percent from the field and 11 percent from the three-point line. Samford also forced 17 Eagle turnovers and dished out 17 assists of its own to 15 turnovers. The Bulldogs never trailed in the game.
"Our theme of the week was to defend well and I thought we did that in the first half," said Samford head Coach Jimmy Tillette. "Had we made some of the open shots we missed our margin would have been bigger, but I was pleased with Chris's performance in the second half.
"I was concerned about tonight from the standpoint of how much investment our guys would have in the game. We played two intense conference games already and we were a little flat in the beginning. Once we got into the competitive flow I thought we were fine."
The game started slowly as neither team scored for nearly four minutes. After trailing 10-2, Morehead went on a 9-3 run to cut the Bulldog lead to 13-11. Samford responded with an 11-0 run of its own, sparked by a three-pointer and a dunk by Green. Weaver knocked down his only three-pointer in the first half to give Samford its largest lead of the half, 27-13, and Chez Marks answered for MSU to cut the Bulldogs' halftime lead to 27-16.
Samford extended its largest lead of 18, 42-24, on a three-pointer by Weaver with 13 minutes remaining in the game. Minard and Marks led a 13-3 run for the Eagles that included four layups to cut Samford's lead to 47-39 with six minutes remaining, but Samford allowed MSU no closer. The Bulldogs knocked down six of eight free throws to ice the game down the stretch and claimed their third victory of the week.
Mills added eight points as the Bulldog starters scored 57 of Samford's 62 points. Samford takes a break for the Christmas holiday and returns to action in the Hoosier Classic, Dec. 28 and 29 in Indianapolis, Ind., with Indiana, Butler and Eastern Washington.
