Dec. 21, 2006

Box Score

MURRAY, Ky. - The Samford University basketball team handed the Murray State Racers their worst home defeat in over four years Thursday as the Bulldogs used stifling defense to post a 55-44 victory at the Regional Special Events Center. With the win, Samford improved to 3-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play.

"I thought that we had a total team effort today and I'm extremely proud of our players," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "It's always hard to win on the road in this league, especially against Murray State, and tonight we were able to get a huge victory."

With the win, Samford (5-4, 3-0 OVC) earned its third-consecutive road victory and limited the Racers to their lowest point total since Dec. 28, 1984.

The Bulldogs also handed Murray State (5-8, 3-2 OVC) its worst home defeat since an 80-66 loss to Gardner-Webb on Jan. 5, 2002. Samford was the OVC's preseason favorite to win the conference this season, while the Racers entered the year as the defending OVC champions.

"Murray State has a great coach in Billy Kennedy and they were playing without the preseason player of the year (Shawn Witherspoon) tonight," Tillette said. "They are going to be a much better team after the New Year, but our guys played their hearts out tonight."

After opening the season with an 0-4 record on the road, Samford has won its previous three games away from home and heads into the Christmas break with an enviable 3-0 conference record.

Junior center Travis Peterson led the Bulldogs in scoring with 17 points, while senior guard Randall Gulina tallied his ninth-consecutive double-digit scoring performance with 13.

Peterson also tied his season-high with eight rebounds and finished with a 5-of-7 shooting performance from the field. Samford's Jerry Smith grabbed eight rebounds and dished out a game-high seven assists.

Murray State's Bruce Carter led the Racers with 19 points, but couldn't help his team out of a shooting funk midway through the second half.

From the 17:52 mark until 7:05 in the final period, Samford's hard-nosed defense only allowed four Murray State points and held the Racers without a field goal. All four of Murray State's buckets during the stretch came from the free-throw line.

The Bulldogs won the battle of the boards 30-27 and didn't allow the Racers to hit a 3-point field goal. Samford only finished with five 3-points baskets, its second-lowest total of the 2006-07 campaign.

Samford led by eight points, 43-35, with 5:40 remaining in the contest when Smith connected on a key 3-point shot to salt the game away.

With less than five seconds remaining on the shot clock, the Bulldogs' Curtis West saved an errant pass from going out of bounds and flipped the ball across the sideline to Smith.

Smith, who was coming off his game-winning performance against Southeast Missouri on Tuesday, collected the pass and fired a 3-pointer barely over a Racer defender to beat the buzzer. The bucket gave Samford a key 11-point lead.

As a team, the Bulldogs only shot 27.8 percent from beyond the arc, but finished with a 48.7 mark from the floor. Since opening OVC play Dec. 7, Samford has averaged a 50.8 shooting percentage from the field.

"I think that we're playing a lot better now, but we're still not at our peak," said Tillette. "This is a long season and we've only played three of the 20 conference games. There are still a lot of games to be played, but I think that we're slowly finding our identity. We need to build from this win and continue to improve."

The Bulldogs ended the first half on a seven-point run to head into the intermission with a 25-22 advantage. The lead was Samford's biggest of the opening period and was capped off by a 21-foot 3-pointer by Peterson at the buzzer.

Gulina scored the Bulldogs' first eight points of the game and led the team with nine points at the half. Peterson followed by scoring six points in the first 20 minutes of play, while both Joe Ross Merritt and West added four each.

West, who came back after missing a game due to an injured nose, only played three minutes in the first half, but scored on each of his first two touches.

Immediately after entering the game, West gathered a pass on the right wing and drove to the basket for a quick layup with 1:30 left in the half. He then stole the ball on the ensuing possession and raced downcourt for another easy bucket. West entered the game with six steals on the season.

Murray State's Carter led all scorers with 11 points in the first half. He was 5-of-8 from the field and grabbed three rebounds in the opening period.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Wednesday, Dec. 26, as the Bulldogs begin play in the 2006 Hispanic College Funds Classic against the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils at 5 p.m., in Baton Rouge, La.

Following its game with Mississippi Valley State on Wednesday, Samford will meet Wright State on Thursday at 5 p.m., and then face off against 12th-ranked LSU on Friday at 7:30 p.m. All three games will be held at LSU's Maravich Center.