Nov. 25, 2003

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - J. Robert Merritt tied his career-high with 20 points to lead four Bulldogs in double figures as Samford won its home opener 94-61 over Bryan College Tuesday night at Seibert Hall.

Merritt was seven for 10 from the floor and five of seven from three-point range to match his previous career-high set Dec. 7, 2002 against Florida International. Phillip Ramelli had 18 points and nine rebounds, Tyson Dorsey had 13 points, and Eddie Harper had 12 points and eight rebounds to help the Bulldogs even their season record at 1-1.

Dillion McElroy went six of nine from three-point range to finish with 18 points. Chris Travis added 10 points for the Lions who drop to 3-4 on the season.

"I think it was a good performance," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We played a lot of people, I thought we had really good effort for the whole game. Our judgment was lacking some at times but I was pleased with our guys effort. They are a difficult team to guard because they do some unorthodox things but I thought the good part was that we got to work against their zone that will help us down the road."

Samford used a 12-0 run early in the first half to take control of the game. The Bulldogs led 11-8 at the 16:17 mark and extended the lead to 23-8 at the 13:12 point of the first half. Travis hit a three-pointer for the Lions first basket in three minutes to stop the run. The Bulldogs largest lead of the first half was 22 points at 35-13 with 6:06 remaining.

Jerry Smith gets an easy two and added eight assists against Bryan

McElroy hit three-three point shots in the final five minutes of the opening period including one at the buzzer to bring the halftime score to 47-30.

Samford extended its lead to 63-40 with 12:49 left to play before Bryan went on a 10-0 run keyed by four-straight Bulldog turnovers to get to within 13 points. That was as close as the Lions would come as Samford answered with 19-1 run to put the game away. Walk-on Beau Green hit his first shot as a Bulldog with 28 second remaining to bring the final score to 94-61.

"Its nice to see 28 assists on 32 made baskets," said Tillette. That is a good sign that we are sharing the ball." Freshman point guard Jerry Smith had eight assists in the first half to establish a season-high. "He has great vision, that is what he can do is push the ball up the floor. He is very unselfish, he can defend too, he is a very heady player," said Tillette.

The Bulldogs finished the night shooting 54 percent from the floor, 53 percent from three-point range, and 93 percent from the free throw line. Bryan shot just 38 percent from the floor and 42 percent from long range.

Samford will travel to New Orleans for Thanksgiving. The Bulldogs will face UNO at 7 p.m. at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans on Saturday, Nov. 29.