Dec. 2, 2007

Box Score

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Samford University basketball team put forth a valiant effort against the Florida State Seminoles on Sunday in a hard-fought 61-45 road loss in the Donald L. Tucker Center. Samford (2-4) led for a good portion of the first half, but Florida State outscored the Bulldogs 34-24 down the stretch.

"I thought that there were certainly positives that we can take from this game," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "Our defensive play in the first half was strong and we played with mostly sophomores and freshmen. Our No. 2 guard, Curtis West, was out for the game and Travis (Peterson) wasn't able to start, so with that, I thought we played very competitively."

In Sunday's loss, Samford was without the efforts of senior guard Curtis West.

West was injured in practice Saturday and was unable to play against Florida State (8-2). Fellow-senior Travis Peterson missed his second start this season due to an aggravated injury, but came off the bench to play 21 minutes.

The Bulldogs dropped their second straight road game Sunday. On Monday, Samford fell short in a heartbreaking loss at Lipscomb 70-65 in overtime.

This Thursday, Samford will attempt to rebound from its two-game slide as the Bulldogs begin Ohio Valley Conference play against in-state rival Jacksonville State. The matchup will begin at 6:30 p.m., in the brand-new Pete Hanna Center and will be nationally televised on ESPNU.

With the victory, Florida State extended its winning streak to five straight games and improved to 11-0 against Samford. Sunday's matchup was the first meeting between the teams since Dec. 19, 1989.

"The main thing that I saw from Florida State, other than their athleticism and size, was the fact that Toney Douglas was able to hit his shots from beyond the arc," Tillette said. "Heading into today, he was only shooting 19 percent from 3-point range and so our focus was mainly on (Isaiah) Swann. We held Swann to one 3-pointer, but Douglas really shot the ball well against us."

Florida State's Toney Douglas, the junior transfer from Auburn, led the Seminoles with 13 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor. He knocked down two of Florida State's six 3-point baskets and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.

Forward Uche Echefu was the only other Seminole to finish with double-digit scoring. Florida State's 6-foot-9 native of Lagos, Nigeria, was 3-for-5 from the field and pulled down six rebounds.

Samford was led in scoring by sophomore Trey Montgomery. Montgomery tallied a game-high 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and set a career-high in scoring. The Bulldogs' native of Destrehan, La., was 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. He also finished with four rebounds.

Six players scored for the Bulldogs Sunday as senior Joe Ross Merritt added nine points on 4-of-13 shooting and true freshman Josh Bedwell tied his career-high with eight points. Bedwell, Samford's 6-foot sharpshooter from Hartselle, Ala., was 3-of-7 from the field and knocked down two 3-point baskets.

Peterson scored seven points and Bryan Friday added four. True freshman Josh Davis finished with one point by connecting on a second-half free throw.

"All in all, I think this was a positive game for us," said Tillette. "Our young players showed signs of improvement, and this was a difficult place to play. Florida State has a very talented team, but I'm not really sure what they were able to take away from this game. They just played on Friday night and I thought that we played them well in the early stages of the game."

With 9:58 remaining in regulation, Samford only trailed 39-32 following a layup from Merritt. Florida State then took a 30-second timeout and Jason Rich connected on a fade-away 3-point shot to build the Seminoles' lead back up to 10 points.

Rich's basket shifted the momentum of the game and the shot started a late 20-5 Florida State run, including a five-minute stretch in which the Seminoles outscored the Bulldogs 12-0.

Samford finished with season-lows in both shooting percentage (32.7) and 3-point shooting percentage (23.1). The Bulldogs were also out-rebounded by the Seminoles 35-25.

Florida State attempted 22 free throws, while Samford only shot seven times from the charity stripe.

Samford led for a predominant portion of the first half and held a 12-8 advantage with 11:52 remaining in the opening period.

With 7:53 left in the first half, Merritt converted on a back-door layup and Samford took a 16-15 lead in the game. The Bulldogs only shot 28.6 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play, but knocked down three 3-point field goals.

Following a 6-0 run by Florida State, Samford trailed 21-16 with six minutes remaining until halftime. Montgomery scored the Bulldogs' final five points of the period with a 3-point basket and a pair of free throws, but the Seminoles ended the half on another 6-0 run to take a 27-21 lead into the half.

Montgomery and Peterson each scored seven points for Samford in the first half of play, while Douglas paced Florida State with eight points on 2-of-3 shooting from the field. The Seminoles' junior was also a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe in the first half.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 6:30 p.m., as the Bulldogs begin Ohio Valley Conference play at home against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.

The OVC-opening contest for both teams will be nationally televised by ESPNU and will be broadcast live by Doug Greengard (play-by-play) and Larry Conley (color).