Feb. 18, 2006

Box Score

ATHENS, Ohio - The Samford University basketball team could never quite get on track against the Ohio Bobcats on Saturday as the Bulldogs only shot 25 percent from 3-point range in a hard-fought 64-52 loss on the road in non-conference play. The game was aired live on ESPN360 and was a member of the BracketBusters Challenge.

"We just didn't shoot the ball well tonight," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "I think that we came out and tried to play too fast in the game and they were taking away all of our back cuts. They were giving us some threes, but we just weren't hitting them."

Samford (17-9, 13-5 Ohio Valley Conference) was led in scoring by junior Randall Gulina, who finished with 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field. The Bulldogs' native of Baton Rouge, La., knocked down three of the team's six 3-point shots.

Sophomore Joe Ross Merritt added 11 points for Samford in the loss. The Bulldogs shot 48.9 percent from the field, but only made six 3-point baskets.

Ohio (15-8, 8-6 Mid-American Conference) shot 50 percent from the field and was led by Sonny Troutman's 28 points.

The Bobcats' junior guard from Indianapolis, Ind., was 9-of-17 from the floor and scored 12-straight points for Ohio to end the game. He was also a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.

The Bobcats jumped out to an early 17-8 advantage on Saturday, but Samford rallied back to cut their deficit at the half to 31-24.

Jerry Smith, the Bulldogs' junior point guard from Picayune, Miss., led the team with six points in the opening period and scored six of Samford's first 10 points of the game.

Midway through the first half, Gulina drained a 3-pointer from the corner and hit a runner in the late to cut Ohio's lead to 25-20. At that point, the Bobcats used a 9-0 run to close out the first half.

In the second half of play, Samford would make its share of runs, but Ohio would use the backing of the 5,112-person crowd to hold off the Bulldogs.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action on Thursday as the Bulldogs resume OVC play against the Southeast Missouri Redhawks at 7:30 p.m., on the road in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

The game can be heard live on WVSU 91.1-FM or via the Internet at either www.samfordsports.com or www.al.com/WVSU.