Jan. 14, 2007

Box Score

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Samford University basketball team dropped its second-straight Ohio Valley Conference road game Sunday as the Bulldogs were defeated by a hot-shooting Tennessee Tech Golden Eagle squad, 73-59, at the Eblen Center.

With the loss, Samford (9-8, 6-2 OVC) ended its brief two-game road swing with an 0-2 record after also falling to Tennessee State, 59-41, on Thursday. The Bulldogs own a perfect 5-0 record at home this season, but are 3-7 when playing on the road.

"I think that offensively our last couple of days of practice really helped us out some, but today we were lacking on the defensive end," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We weren't very solid with the ball to start the game and I think that we turned the ball over too much early on."

Tennessee Tech (8-9, 4-4 OVC) shot a stifling 47.1 percent from the floor and earned its second win in a row. The Golden Eagles were led in scoring by senior Belton Rivers, who finished with a game-high 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field.

Rivers, the leading scorer in the conference, was also 5-of-6 from beyond the arc and finished with a perfect 6-of-6 mark from the charity stripe. As a team, Tennessee Tech knocked down 19-of-20 of its free throw attempts.

"I have to give Tennessee Tech a lot of credit for how they played today," Tillette said. "They shot the ball extremely well and both Rivers and (Anthony) Fisher did a good job. They were hitting from the outside and not all of that can be attributed to our lack of defense."

With Tennessee Tech leading at the half, 35-29, the Golden Eagles outscored Samford 6-2 to open the second period. Rivers caught fire in the final half of play as he knocked down four of his five 3-point baskets in the final 20 minutes of action.

Despite trailing by as many as 13 points, 48-35, with 13:35 remaining in the game, Samford kept fighting and cut Tennessee Tech's lead to 62-54 at the 3:07 mark.

At that point, the Bulldogs were forced to begin fouling and the Golden Eagles scored their final 11 points from the free throw line. Tennessee Tech knocked down 11 of its last 12 free throw attempts.

Samford turned in a solid game offensively and finished with four players scoring in double figures.

The Bulldogs were led in scoring by senior Randall Gulina, who registered 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Juniors Curtis West and Travis Peterson both finished with 14 points apiece, while senior point guard Jerry Smith tallied 11 points and six rebounds.

Samford shot 43.5 percent from the floor and 34.6 percent from 3-point range. Peterson led the Bulldogs by tying a career-high with four 3-point baskets. He was 4-of-10 from beyond the arc, while Gulina turned in a 3-of-7 performance from long range.

Each team finished the game with 12 turnovers, but Tennessee Tech won the battle of the boards, 35-21.

The Golden Eagles shot 57.7 percent from the field in the first half and took a 35-29 advantage into the intermission. Samford turned in a 42.9 shooting percentage in the opening period and connected on five 3-point attempts.

Tennessee Tech's Anthony Fisher led all scorers with 10 points at the half, while the Golden Eagles' Rivers added nine. The Bulldogs' Smith scored nine points in the first 20 minutes of play behind a 3-of-4 performance from the floor.

Samford's Peterson finished with eight points in the first half.

The Bulldogs' 6-foot-10 junior from Glendale, Ariz., was 3-for-7 from the field and 2-of-5 from beyond the arc. Gulina led Samford with three first-half rebounds, while Jonathan Jones paced the Golden Eagles with four boards in the opening period.

Tennessee Tech used its hot shooting to take an early 21-13 advantage in the game with 7:43 remaining in the first half.

The Bulldogs then went on a 10-2 run late in the half to cut the Golden Eagles' lead to 30-29. Samford's crucial run was highlighted by a pair of free throws by both West and Gulina, and was capped off by a deep 3-point basket by Peterson.

The Golden Eagles mounted a late mini-run of their own to close out the first half.

Tennessee Tech scored the final five points of the opening period as Francis Kabore knocked down a 3-point shot from the left wing and Fisher connected on a one-hand runner in the lane.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday as the Bulldogs welcome the third-place Morehead State Eagles to Seibert Hall for a critical OVC showdown beginning at 7 p.m.