Dec. 13, 2003

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio - COLUMBUS, Ohio- J. Robert Merritt scored 16 points and Phillip Ramelli had 14 points but Ohio State used a big run in each half to defeat Samford 80-62 Saturday afternoon in front of 12,795 at Value City Arena.

Samford (2-4) led 15-10 at the 12:57 mark of the first half before the Buckeyes (4-3) used a 16-3 run to take a 26-18 lead with 6:54 to play. In the second half, the Bulldogs pulled to 52-49 at the 12:04 mark before the Buckeyes put the game away with an 11-0 run to take a 63-49 lead with 8:14 left to play. Samford would make just three shots from the floor in the final 12 minutes of the game.

Ohio State placed five players in double figures as Velimir Radinovic led all scorers with 19 points. Tony Stockman had 16 points, J.J Sullinger had 13 points, Brandon Fuss-Cheatham had 11 points, and Shun Jenkins added 10 points. The Buckeyes went 17-19 from the free throw line in the second half after missing their only free throw of the first half.

"I thought they (Ohio State) played very well today," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "I know Coach O'Brien hadn't been happy with their play coming into the game. I don't know wither we fouled them or not, they made 17 free throws but I thought we ran pretty good offense. It is a subjective evaluation but I think we are a better team than we were a week ago."

Ohio State shot 57 percent for the game after shooting 68 percent in the first half. "We were way to respectful of them in the first half and gave them too much space," said Tillette. The Buckeyes shot 47 percent (7-15) from long range and 85 percent (17-20) from the line.

Samford shot 65 percent in the first half but still trailed by ten 42-32 at halftime. The Bulldogs finished the game at 49 percent from the floor, 41 percent (11-27) from long range and 78 percent (7-9) from the line.

The Bulldogs had a chance to go into half with momentum with the shot clock off and down by eight, a Samford turnover led to a dunk by Radinovic with two seconds left that gave OSU its halftime cushion.

Samford began the second half with an 11-4 run. Tyson Dorsey had a pair of three-pointers and Merritt added a long-range shot to force an OSU timeout with 15:45 to play.

Five of the Bulldogs' first six baskets of the second half were three-pointers. Meanwhile, the larger Buckeyes were forcing the Bulldogs into foul trouble. Samford and OSU each had nine baskets in the second half but the Buckeyes went to the free throw line 12 more times than the Bulldogs. Samford's Eddie Harper fouled out of the game at the 4:05 mark with six points.

Ohio State held a 27-20 rebounding advantage and theBuckeye bench outscored Samford's bench 30-14. Samford will return home for only its second home game of the season as it hosts Tennessee-Temple on Dec. 18, at Seibert Hall. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.