Jan. 29, 2007

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team dropped its first home contest in nearly a year Monday as the Bulldogs' nine-game winning streak in Seibert Hall was ended by the Murray State Racers, 57-51, in front of a season-high crowd of 3,277 fans.

"Murray State is a much improved team since the first time that we played them and (Head coach) Billy (Kennedy) has done a great job with them," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "Even when they were down big in the first half, they never gave up and they played with more intensity than we did tonight."

With the loss, Samford (12-10, 9-4 Ohio Valley Conference) suffered its first home defeat since dropping a 75-70 decision to Eastern Kentucky on Feb. 14, 2006. The Bulldogs' nine-game winning streak was the longest in the OVC.

Behind the play of junior Joe Ross Merrritt, Samford jumped out to an early 21-7 advantage in the game.

The Bulldogs' 6-foot-4 guard from Oklahoma City, Okla., finished with a career-high 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field and grabbed four rebounds. Merritt also poured in a career-high five 3-point baskets, shattering his previous high of three.

Samford led 21-7 with 10:43 remaining in the first half when Murray State (10-11, 8-5 OVC) mounted its first double-digit run of the game.

The Racers' Danero Thomas knocked down a 3-point shot to calm the frenzied Samford crowd at 10:16, and then Murray State received consecutive buckets from Tony Easley, Bruce Carter, Tyler Holloway and Ed Horton to trim the Bulldogs' lead to 21-20.

Preseason OVC Player of the Year-selection Shawn Witherspoon paced the Racers with 15 points Monday, while Murray State's leading-scorer Carter finished with 10. Dwayne Paul pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

Despite Murray State's 13-0 run in the first half, the Bulldogs held a 23-20 advantage at the intermission. Samford shot 39.1 percent from the field in the opening period and limited the Racers to a 36.4-percent first-half outing.

Merritt led all scorers with 11 points at the half, while both Curtis West and Randall Gulina tallied five.

Samford came out strong in the second half and extended its lead to 32-24 with 16:49 remaining. Both Merritt and Gulina knocked down 3-point baskets to open the period and Gulina later gave the Bulldogs their eight-point lead on an old-fashioned 3-point play.

With Samford leading 38-33, the Racers strung together a 15-0 run to take a decisive 48-38 advantage with 5:08 remaining in the game.

The Bulldogs fought back with one more run of their own late in the game as they used 3-points shots from Gulina and Merritt to cut Murray State's lead to 49-48 with 1:33 left.

On a key possession with just over a minute remaining, the Racers' Witherspoon answered with a pair of free throws and Samford was never able to get any closer than two points.

"Murray State certainly elevated their game and they played with more intensity than we did for 40 minutes," Tillette said. "We started the game well, but then we couldn't match their energy, particularly in the second half."

The Bulldogs shot 39.5 percent from the field and only had four players score in the game.

"We didn't have very many people step up and hit their shots," Tillette said. "Joe Ross played well and he hit his shots and Randall scored some, but we didn't have anybody else really contribute. I thought that we had open looks, but they just didn't go down for us."

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday as the Bulldogs conclude their brief two-game homestand against the Tennessee State Tigers at 7 p.m., in Seibert Hall.