Feb. 20, 2003

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Phillip Ramelli and Eddie Harper both tied their career-highs with 21 and 18 points respectively as Samford overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat Gardner-Webb 63-54 and clinch a berth in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament Thursday night in Seibert Hall.

Ramelli was 4-7 for 11 points in the second half and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds while Harper went 5-5 in the second half for 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the home-standing Bulldogs erased a 37-26 Gardner-Webb lead at the break.

"There wasn't much coach could say at halftime." said Ramelli, "We weren't playing with any energy. We knew we had to pick-up the energy and get some rebounds."

Gardner-Webb (5-21, 2-11 A-Sun) had a 22-14 advantage on the boards in the first half grabbing nine offensive rebounds. The Runnin' Bulldogs were 8-18 (44 percent) from three-point range in the first half while Samford was just 3-14 (21 percent) from long range in the first 20 minutes.

Phillip Ramelli tied his career-high with 21 points against Gardner-Webb.

The second half was nothing like the first. Samford (12-13, 8-6 A-Sun) took advantage of the aggressive GWU defense back-cutting its way to easy lay-ups and held GWU to just 1-11 (9 percent) shooting from long range. The Runnin' Bulldogs shot just 28 percent in the second half to finish at 35 percent from the floor and 31 percent from 3-point range. Meanwhile, Samford out-rebounded GWU 28-11 in the second half and shot 50 percent from the field despite shooting 6-23 (26 percent) from beyond the arc.

""We made enough 3's tonight to make them guard us, but we made some great passes in the second half," said head coach Jimmy Tillette. "All of our guys stepped up in the second half and Phillip (Ramelli) spearheaded that. We guarded better and rebounded better in the second half and Eddie (Harper) did a great job on both ends of the court."

Samford trailed by as many as 16-points at 42-26 with 18:47 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs went on a 19-4 run over the next nine minutes making six lay-ups to bring the score to 48-47 with 9:55 to play. Samford took the lead 53-52 on a three-pointer by Harper with 5:04 remaining and did not look back. Samford out scored Gardner-Webb 37-17 in the second half and finished the game shooting 45 percent from the floor and out rebounding GWU 35-33.

Brendan Clowry led GWU with 12 points while Tim Behrendorff grabbed seven rebounds for the visitors.

The win guarantees Samford a spot in the Atlantic Sun Tournament which begins on March 6, in Atlanta. The Bulldogs can even their overall record on Saturday when they face Campbell at 2 p.m. in Seibert Hall. The Bulldogs will honor their only senior Cornell Felton before the game.