Nov. 14, 2006

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - On a night in which Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette earned his school-record 150th win, senior guard Randall Gulina was the star Tuesday, as the Baton Rouge, La., native scored a career-high 38 points in an 83-59 victory over Tennessee Temple.

"I thought that we started the game well, but then our energy just plummeted," said Tillette. "I think that we sensed the game was going to be easy and nobody gave that message to Tennessee Temple. They kept playing hard and then they got back in the game. In the second half, we played at a better pace and we ended up getting in a better rhythm."

With the victory, Samford (1-1) extended its winning streak in home-opening games to four-consecutive seasons and improved to 5-0 all-time against Tennessee Temple (4-2).

The Bulldogs' last losing effort in a home-opening contest occurred Nov. 22, 2002, versus Chattanooga, 68-66.

Gulina shot a stifling 14-of-15 from the floor Tuesday and shattered his previous career high of 22 points. His lone miss of the night was a 3-point attempt midway through the second half. Gulina finished 6-of-7 from beyond the arc and connected on his first 11 shot attempts of the game.

"I thought that Randall was great and I also thought that Jerry Smith had a nice ballgame," Tillette said. "Those two guys as seniors played incredibly well and gave us a lift. I also thought that Curtis West had a great game tonight."

Senior point guard Jerry Smith recorded the third double-double of his career Tuesday night.

Smith, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-2 native of Picayune, Miss., scored 12 points and tied a career-high with 10 assists. He also finished with four rebounds, three steals and only committed one turnover.

Junior guard Curtis West tallied nine points on 3-of-4 shooting. He earned his second start of the season and logged 25 minutes of play. He was also a perfect 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.

Samford jumped out to an early 17-2 advantage in the game.

After a 3-point basket from Gulina and a free throw from freshman Bryan Friday, the Bulldogs took a 27-6 advantage with 8:45 to play in the opening half.

"I just think that we played well as a team tonight," said Gulina. "A lot of our guys got minutes and that's what's important as we continue to approach conference play. A lot of our offense is about rhythm and a lot of it is about practicing and shooting. It might have looked as if we struggled at times tonight, but I think that we took two steps forward."

Despite Samford's early lead Tuesday, Tennessee Temple fought back and cut the lead to 39-36 with 17:24 remaining in the second half.

The Crusaders shot 42.9 percent as a team and were led by Elmar Kuli-Zade's 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field. After a slow 1-for-7 start, Kuli-Zade connected on six of his final seven shot attempts.

After their lead was cut to three points, the Bulldogs used a pair of back-to-back 3-point baskets from Gulina to go on a quick 10-0 run. From the 15:19 mark, Samford continually built up its lead and finished with a 24-point margin of victory.

The Bulldogs shot 57.1 percent from the field and 52.6 from 3-point range.

Samford's Joe Ross Merritt came in off the bench for the second-straight game to score in double figures. He added 10 points, two rebounds and a pair of steals. Junior Travis Peterson led the team with six rebounds and scored nine points.

Sophomore Jason Black turned in a well-rounded game with four rebounds, three assists, three steals and two points. Freshman Jim Griffin pulled down three rebounds and handed out three assists in only 14 minutes of play.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday as the Bulldogs return to the road to face the Towson Tigers at 6 p.m. (CST), in Towson, Md.

The game will be aired live on WVSU 91.1 FM, and also via the internet at either www.SamfordSports.com or www.al.com/wvsu.