Nov. 16, 2006

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Despite trailing by 12 points early in the first half of play Thursday, the Samford University basketball team used a second-half surge to cut Towson's lead to three points late in the game, but couldn't overcome Gary Neal's career-high 41 points in a 69-62 loss at the Towson Center.

"First off, I know that we didn't shoot the ball well at all," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We struggled from the floor and then we came back in the second half, but Neal scored some big buckets for them (Towson). They were better than us tonight on both ends of the floor."

Samford (1-2) was led in scoring by senior guard Randall Gulina's 18 points and finished with three players in double figures. Jerry Smith tallied 13 points and tied a career-high with 10 rebounds, while Travis Peterson added 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

Smith's double-double was his second-straight and the fourth of his career.

Despite only shooting 12.5 percent from 3-point range, Samford pulled within three points, 57-54, with 1:54 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs outscored Towson (2-0), 37-31, in the second half and opened the final period with an 11-3 run.

Peterson spurred Samford's comeback by scoring six of the Bulldogs' first 11 points in the second half. After an 11-1 run early in the second period, Samford trimmed the Tigers' lead to 41-36 with 15:30 left to play in the game.

The teams swapped points throughout the second half until Neal drained his seventh 3-point basket of the game at the 1:10 mark. Towson's lead would never get lower than four points as the Bulldogs were forced to foul and put the Tigers on the free-throw line.

Neal's 41 points was a school record at the 30-year-old Towson Center.

The Tigers shot 45.7 percent from the floor and added a torrid 52.9 percent from 3-point range. Neal scored 41 of Towson's 69 points Thursday. The Tigers' second-leading scorer was Tim Crossin with 10.

"Neal just played a great game today and he shot lights out," Tillette said. "I don't think that we necessarily played terribly defensively, but he was just able to hit his shots and we weren't."

Samford's 3-for-24 shooting performance from beyond the arc was its worst in over a year.

Sophomore Jason Black finished with nine points for the Bulldogs, while Curtis West scored seven and freshman Jim Griffin added four.

The Tigers held a 38-25 advantage at the half.

Towson jumped out to an early 18-6 lead in the game and was led by Neal's 21 opening-period points. The Tigers' senior from Aberdeen, Md., shot 8-of-14 from the floor and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc in the first half.

Samford was 8-of-23 from the floor in the opening period. The Bulldogs also struggled from 3-point range and went into the locker room at halftime with a 1-for-13 mark from beyond the arc.

Despite falling behind early in the first half, Samford used a jumper from Jason Black at the 2:51 mark in the opening period to cut the Tigers' lead to 28-23.

Smith led the Bulldogs in both scoring and points at the half.

Samford's four-year starting point guard tallied seven points and five rebounds in the opening period of play. At 6:39, Smith converted a 3-point play and then added a dribble-drive layup to spur a 7-0 Bulldogs' run.

Towson's Neal hit a pair of 3-point buckets in the final three minutes of the first half to help the Tigers build their 13-point halftime advantage.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Wednesday as the Bulldogs travel to Tucson, Ariz., for a Thanksgiving Eve matchup against the 15th-ranked Arizona Wildcats. The game will begin at 8 p.m. (CST), at the McKale Center.