Feb. 1, 2007

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team used a key 10-0 run late in the game to earn a 70-60 victory against the Tennessee State Tigers in a pivotal Ohio Valley Conference contest held at Seibert Hall Thursday.

"This was a big win for us," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "After getting behind in the second half, we came back with some great energy and I thought that we were able to get a big boost from some of our guys off the bench. Joe (Ross Merritt) and Randall (Gulina) hit some key shots for us down the stretch and we played better defensively."

With the win, Samford (13-10, 10-4 OVC) improved to 8-1 at home this season and earned its fifth-consecutive victory over Tennessee State (10-13, 6-7 OVC) in Seibert Hall.

The Bulldogs finished the game with three players scoring in double figures and were led by Randall Gulina's 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor. Senior Jerry Smith broke out of a recent slump with 20 points, while Joe Ross Merritt drained 4-of-5 shots for 13 points.

Merritt, Samford's 6-foot-4 junior from Oklahoma City, Okla., was a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range and knocked down back-to-back threes during the Bulldogs' decisive 10-0 second-half run.

Senior guard Randall Gulina scores two of his game-high 21 points against Tennessee State on Thursday.

After Tennessee State's Andrae Belton connected on a 10-foot jumper to give the Tigers a 54-53 advantage with 3:56 to play, Samford rattled off the next 10 points in the game to earn a 63-54 lead. The Bulldogs built the nine-point advantage with a jumper and two free throws from Gulina as well as Merritt's two-straight 3-pointers.

"The run was late in coming," Tillette said. "We didn't really start the game off with any energy and then we started the second half off poorly. Once our starters came back in the game, they were energized and I thought that we really defended well. Joe (Ross Merritt) has really been locked in lately and he has also been very competitive defensively and on the boards."

After trailing by as many as seven points in the second half, Samford streak its way to a 70-56 advantage with 39 seconds left in the game. The Tigers scored a pair of late baskets and pulled the final score to 70-60.

Tennessee State's Belton paced the team with 19 points and a game-high eight rebounds, while Reiley Ervin finished with 14 and Clarence Matthews tallied 13. The Tigers shot 47.9 percent from the field and were 5-of-13 from beyond the arc.

Neither team committed many turnovers in Thursday's game. Tennessee State finished with eight and Samford only committed a season-best six. The Bulldogs are currently ranked fourth in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (10.4).

With Samford's win and Austin Peay's 77-68 loss at Murray State, the Bulldogs moved to within a game and a half of the first-place Governors. Samford is tied for second place with Tennessee Tech at 10-4 in OVC play.

The Bulldogs' Jim Griffin, Trey Montgomery, Bryan Friday and Jason Black all came off the bench to log critical minutes in the game.

Griffin and Friday tallied 11 minutes each. Black spent nine minutes on the floor and Montgomery earned two minutes of game action. Friday finished Thursday's game with four points, while Black and Griffin both tallied one points apiece.

Junior Travis Peterson started his 51st-consecutive game and scored seven points. He also tallied four assists.

Junior guard Curtis West led Samford with six assists and Smith pulled down a team-high six rebounds.

Smith, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-2 senior from Picayune, Miss., was also a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. He is currently shooting 72.8 percent from the charity stripe this season, six percentage points better than his 66.7 career average.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday as the Bulldogs play their fifth game in 10 days against the Eastern Illinois Panthers. The OVC contest will begin at 5 p.m., in Charleston, Ill., and will be nationally televised on ESPN2.