Dec 30, 2003

Box Score

STILLWATER, Okla.-- - J. Robert Merritt scored the first six points of the game and Samford jumped out to a 9-0 lead but it was Oklahoma State who used a 21-6 run to start the second half who came away with a 65-50 victory at Gallagher-Iba Arena Tuesday night.

Merritt a sophomore from Oklahoma City made his first three shots, all three-pointers, in the first half finishing the game with nine points. Josh Hare led the Bulldogs who dropped to 4-6 on the season with 12 points off the bench. Eddie Harper had nine points and Phillip Ramelli added eight points.

Tony Allen led three Cowboys (8-1) in double figures with 19 points. Joey Graham had 15 points and Ivan McFarlin had 12 points and nine rebounds. OSU held a 40-25 rebounding advantage including 17 offensive rebounds.

Merritt's first two shots and a three-pointer by Jerry Smith gave Samford a 9-0 lead three minutes into the game. Oklahoma State answered with a 7-0 run to pull to within two points but the Bulldogs held onto the lead until the 8:03 mark when OSU took its first lead on lay-up by McFarlin17-16. Ramelli answered with a dunk to put the Bulldogs up one as the teams began to see-saw. There were seven lead changes and one tie in the opening period before OSU took the lead for good 23-22 with 3:33 left in the half.

Ramelli pulled the Bulldogs to within three at the half 29-26 with his eighth point but he would not score in the second half.

The Bulldogs turned the ball over on their first three possessions of the second half as OSU got the crowd of 8,670 behind it by starting the half on a 6-0 run before Smith knocked down his second three-pointer of the game. He also led the Bulldogs with six rebounds.

Samford's next basket was a three-pointer by Randall Gulina at the 15:02 mark. Samford would not score again until a three-pointer by Hare with 10:38 left. By that time OSU had built a 54-35 advantage outscoring Samford 25-9 in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

"I thought in the second half we took a step backwards," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We turned the ball over on our first three possessions and did not compete well. We thought it was going to be a jump shooting game rather than a cutting game and we settled for shots too early in the clock."

Samford's 50 points matches its season-low from the first game of the season at Purdue. The Bulldogs also shot a season-low 33 percent (4-12) from the free throw line. For the game, the Bulldogs shot 41 percent from the floor and 48 percent from three-point range.

OSU shot 53 percent in the second half to finish the game at 49 percent from the floor. The Cowboys were just 1-8 (13 percent) from three-point range and 6-15 (40 percent from the line but OSU scored 44 points in the paint and 22 points off turnovers.

The Bulldogs return home on Saturday to face Tennessee-Wesleyan in their final non-conference game of the season. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. at Seibert Hall.