Nov. 26, 2005

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team shot a sizzling 62.5 percent from 3-point range in a 96-45 victory over the Bryan College Lions on Saturday as the Bulldogs played their first home game of the 2005-06 season.

"I thought that we played very well today," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "I thought that we were able to do a lot of good things in this game, especially on the offensive end."

Samford (2-2) scored its most points in a game since the 1999 campaign.

By putting 96 points on the board against Bryan College (4-4), the Bulldogs tallied their most points in a game since defeating Troy State on the road, 105-75, on Jan. 2, 1999. Samford finished the 1998-99 season with a 24-6 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

"We spent all of this last week working on our rebounding and we did a little better job of that today," Tillette said. "We also did a better job of going deeper in the clock and running our offense."

The Bulldogs out-rebounded Bryan College, 32-19, on Saturday, and had six players score in double figures. Samford was led in scoring by senior forward J. Robert Merritt, who has finished with at least 10 points in 21 of his previous 22 games.

Merritt, Samford's All-Ohio Valley Conference performer, tallied 18 points in 25 minutes of play and shot 7-of-11 from the field. He finished 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Junior Randall Gulina scored 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while sophomore guard Joe Ross Merritt finished with 12. Jerry Smith, Curtis West and Jason Black all scored 11 points apiece in the victory.

Black, Samford's redshirt freshman, recorded a career-high in points on Saturday. The Bulldogs' native of Martin, Tenn., shot a near-perfect 5-of-6 from the field.

Bryan College was limited to a season-low 45 points and turned in a below-par 36.7 shooting percentage. The Lions had been averaging 84.8 points per game this season. Nick Hansen led Bryan College in scoring with 17 points in 38 minutes of play.

Samford jumped out to a quick 14-3 advantage.

With 13:58 remaining in the first half, the Bulldogs used a deep 3-point basket from Gulina to earn its early 11-point lead. Gulina, a native of Baton Rouge, La., led all scorers at the half with 11 points. On the play, he drilled the 22-foot, 3-pointer off an assist from J. Robert Merritt.

The Bulldogs increased their lead to 24-7 with 9:35 left in the first half and then extended it to 44-22 at the intermission.

Samford shot a sizzling 60.7 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play and limited Bryan College to 30.8 percent shooting. The Bulldogs connected on seven 3-point attempts in the first half and shot 58.3 percent from beyond the arc.

Samford sophomores Travis Peterson and West each drained a pair of the 3-point baskets in the first half. Peterson went 2-of-3 from the beyond the arc and tallied six points, while West was a perfect 2-of-2 from 3-point range and scored eight.

West, the Bulldogs' speedy 6-0 guard, also grabbed four rebounds in the first half. He finished the game with team-highs in both rebounds (7) and assists (4).

"Hopefully, this win will boost our confidence some," said Tillette. "We're still a really young team. We only have two seniors on our roster, so it's good for everybody else to be able to get some experience. We need all the help we can get in preparing for next week and our league play."

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action on Monday as the Bulldogs face off against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at 7 p.m., in Hattiesburg, Miss.