Jan. 3, 2003
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TIPOFF: Saturday Jan. 4, 2003, 2 p.m. Seibert Hall; Birmingham, Ala.
AIR: The game can be heard on WVSU 91.1-FM and the internet at www.samfordsports.com.
SAMFORD: Samford returns home for the first time since Nov. 27 to open Atlantic Sun Conference play. The Bulldogs are 4-7 on the season and will be looking to snap a five game losing streak. Phillip Ramelli leads Samford averaging 11.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Ramelli is 3rd in the A-Sun in FG percentage at 63 percent. Tyson Dorsey has averaged 14.3 points over his last three games and has been in double figures in seven of the Bulldogs 11 games so far this season. Samford is 3-2 in Conference openers under Jimmy Tillette. All time the Bulldogs are 11-13 in conference openers dating back to the 1978-79 season, the first year of the Atlantic Sun (then known as the TAAC). Samford won last season's A-Sun opener 69-60 over Mercer.
BELMONT: The Bruins snapped a four-game losing streak with an 88-75 victory over LIU-Brooklyn on Sunday to improve to 4-7 on the season. Like Samford, Belmont has faced a challenging non-conference schedule that included Notre Dame, Georgia, Air Force, Purdue, and Valparaiso. Adam Mark has been the Atlantic Sun Player of the week twice this year while averaging 16.7 points per game. He is fourth in the A-Sun in FG percentage connecting on 62.5 percent of his shots. Adam Sonn averages a double-double per game with 14.8 points and 11.5 rebounds. Sonn leads the A-Sun in rebounding. Steve Drabyn is scoring 12.1 ppg and is second in the A-Sun in FT percentage. Drabyn is 31-34 (91.2%) from the line. The Bruins are shooting 44 percent from the floor and 37 percent from three-point range.
INSIDE STUFF: Belmont has won three straight and five of the last six against the Bulldogs to draw even in the 22 previous meetings. Samford holds an 8-4 advantage in games played in Birmingham; however Belmont has won the last three times at Seibert Hall. Samford's last win the series was on Dec. 11, 1999 81-65 in Nashville. Belmont took both games last season 66-60 in Nashville and 64-62 in Birmingham.
NEXT: Samford will hit the road again. This time the Bulldogs will travel to Campbell for a 6 p.m. CT tip-off in Buies Creek, N.C. on Thursday, Jan. 9. The Bulldogs are 11-5 all-time against Campbell but are 3-3 in Buies Creek, N.C.
