Nov. 6, 2006

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team used a 30-point outing from senior guard Randall Gulina en route to a 76-45 victory over the North Georgia Saints on Monday in the Bulldogs' lone preseason exhibition game of the 2006-07 campaign.

Samford will begin its regular-season schedule Friday on the road against the No. 1-ranked and defending national champion Florida Gators. The season-opening contest will start at 7 p.m. (CST), in Gainesville, Fla.

"Randall was great out there tonight," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "He was really good and we just need to make sure that he gets healthy. He was knocking down threes and scoring around the basket. He definitely adds a toughness to our team. We also shot over 60 percent in the game and that's a good sign."

Gulina, Samford's 6-foot-1 native of Baton Rouge, La., shot 12-of-15 from the field and knocked down 6-of-8 of his 3-point field goal attempts. Heading into this season, his career-high in scoring was a 22-point performance against Morehead State, Jan. 19.

The Bulldogs' Jerry Smith tallied 11 points, four rebounds and three assists in the game. A four-year starter at point guard, Smith was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.

Samford jumped out to a 21-7 lead early in the first half and cruised to a 33-18 mark at the intermission. The Bulldogs shot 45.8 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of play, but then added a stifling 76.2 shooting percent in the second stanza.

"I thought that we shot the ball a little too quickly in the first half," Tillette said. "At halftime, we talked about doing some more back-cutting and shooting inside-out threes. We worked on shooting more in the post and I thought that we were more effective there."

The Bulldogs' 6-foot-10 center Travis Peterson led the team with six assists. He added four points, but only played 19 minutes due to foul trouble.

Samford's Jason Black finished with eight points on 3-of-6 shooting and pulled down five rebounds. Redshirt freshman Bryan Friday tallied seven points, six rebounds and added two assists. The Bulldogs finished with 10 players seeing game action Monday.

"We tried to get a lot of guys playing time tonight," said Tillette. "We played without Joe Ross (Merritt), so it's going to take awhile for us. It's still a work in progress with our younger guys. We're trying to get them some minutes. This was the first real game for (Bryan) Friday, (Trey) Montgomery and (Jim) Griffin. They hadn't played a minute of collegiate basketball before tonight."

The Bulldogs' Curtis West started the game and finished with six points, three steals, three assists and two rebounds Redshirt freshmen Jim Griffin and Trey Montgomery scored five points apiece. Griffin also registered three assists, two rebounds and a steal.

North Georgia finished with three players scoring in double figures Monday. Xavier Trice led the way with 13 points and three assists, while Anthony Rowe and Buzz Wehunt tallied 10 points apiece.

The Saints shot 43.2 percent from the field, but only 25 percent from beyond the arc. North Georgia attempted 20 3-point baskets and connected on five.

Samford out-rebounded the Saints, 29-17.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Friday as the Bulldogs begin their 2006-07 regular-season schedule with a trip to Gainesville, Fla., against the top-ranked and defending national champion Florida Gators.

The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. (CST).