Jan. 31, 2004

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Phillip Ramelli scored 21 points and grabbed six rebounds and J. Robert Merritt added 18 points to lead Samford to a 70-58 Ohio Valley Conference victory over Southeast Missouri State at Seibert Hall on Saturday afternoon.

Unlike its last three games, Samford took the lead early and played ahead most of the game to take sole possession of third place in the OVC. The Bulldogs are now 10-9 overall and 5-3 in the OVC after going 2-2 on its longest home stand of the season.

SEMO (9-10, 2-6 OVC) was led by Brandon Griffin who had 17 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Derek Winans had 16 points and Damarcus Hence chipped in 12 points for the visitors.

The lead changed hands three times in the first four minutes of the game but a three-point basket by Merritt put the Bulldogs ahead 6-4 and Samford would not trail again. The Bulldogs committed just one turnover in the first half building a 10-point halftime lead at 36-26.

"It is a lot easier to play with the lead," said Samford Head Coach Jimmy Tillette. "We have been playing from behind in the last couple of games but the key today was our shooting percentage and limiting our turnovers. I thought we played good defense and I was impressed with the way our guards took care of the basketball."

J. Robert Merritt scored 18 points to help lead Samford over SEMO

Samford shot 57 percent from the floor in the second half to finish the game at 51 percent. SEMO made 45 percent of its shots in the game. Both teams hit 10 three-pointers and Samford committed a season-low six turnovers while the Indians turned the ball over 11 times.

SEMO made a run to start the second half. Winans and Mike Nelke hit back-to-back three-pointers to cut the lead to four, 38-34, with 17:47 to play. Merritt hit an off balance shot in the lane to start a 13-2 Samford run that put the Bulldogs up by 15 with 12:27 to play. The Indians would not get closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Ramelli was 8-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-7 from three point range in the game while Merritt was 6-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-7 from long range. Both went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. Ramelli is averaging 22 points per game over the last three games.

"Phillip is a complete player," said Tillette. "He can score around the basket, has a three-point range, and is one of our best free throw shooters. He is the prototype center for this offense."

Eddie Harper finished the game with 11 points and seven rebounds on 5-of-7 shooting from the free throw stripe. His reverse dunk with 1:59 to play gave Samford its largest lead of the game at 16 points. The Bulldogs will now go on the road for four-straight games. Samford will be in Cookeville, Tenn., on Thursday night to face Tennessee Tech at 7:30 p.m.