Jan. 17, 2008

Box Score

MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Samford University basketball team mounted a come-from-behind effort in the second half of play Thursday, but in the end the Morehead State Eagles held off the Bulldogs for a 62-46 victory in front of an announced crowd of 3,619 at the Johnson Center.

"We definitely didn't play well today and we didn't give them our best shot," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "I know that we had some changes in our lineup, but that's no excuse and we need to make sure that we play better at EKU on Saturday. We had a ton of turnovers in the first half and that was a huge problem. We got better in the second half, but we still came up short on some pivotal plays."

With the loss, Samford (7-10, 4-5 Ohio Valley Conference) dropped its third-straight conference game and fell to 3-5 on the road this season. Morehead State (7-9, 5-4 OVC) earned its third-straight OVC victory and remained perfect at home, 6-0.

The Bulldogs finished with two players scoring in double figures and were led in scoring by senior Joe Ross Merritt's 12 points. Samford's 6-foot-4 sharpshooter from Oklahoma City, Okla., scored all of his points from beyond the arc and finished 4-of-6 from 3-point range.

Samford's Trey Montgomery added 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field. He was 3-for-4 from the free-throw line. Senior center Travis Peterson scored nine points on 3-of-5 shooting and turned in a team-high four assists.

Morehead State's Kenneth Faried led all scorers with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor. The Eagles' 6-foot-8 center tallied 14 of his 15 points in the opening half and also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Six of his boards came on the offensive end of the court.

Nikola Stojakovic, Morehead State's senior guard from Belgrade, Serbia, went scoreless in the opening half of play, but exploded for 10 points in the second period. The Eagles' floor leader was a near-perfect 4-of-5 from the field and finished with a game-high six assists.

"Stojakovic really played well for them in the second half," said Tillette. "He beat us off the dribble three times in succession and then No. 14 (Jamyron Steward) goes off for consecutive baskets. He made some great turnaround shots and as a team they shot 72 percent in the second half."

To open the final period, Samford used a 3-pointer from Josh Davis and back-to-back layups from Montgomery and Peterson to trim Morehead State's lead to 30-29 with 15:45 remaining. The Bulldogs opened the final period with a 7-0 run to mount its comeback attempt.

"We started off the second half missing three straight layups and a wide-open 3-pointer, but we were still able to go on a 7-0 run," Tillette said. "We need to get better, but Morehead State is a very good basketball team at home. They are undefeated in this building this season and when they play with energy it's a tough place to play."

After the teams traded a few buckets to make the score 36-34, Morehead State rallied for a 15-5 run and extended its lead to 51-39 with 7:33 left. During the decisive stretch midway through the second half, Stoyakovich scored six of the Eagles' points and Jamyron Steward added four.

Morehead State shot 72.2 percent in the second half and finished with a 54-percent outing in the game. Samford shot 41.7 percent in the game and 40 percent in the final period.

Down the stretch, the Bulldogs used a free throw from Savoy Fraine to cut the Eagles lead to 51-40, but that was the closest that Samford would get. Morehead State scored 11 of the final 17 points of the game for its 62-46 victory.

Despite trailing by as many as 13 points (18-5) to open the game, Samford rallied midway through the opening period and trimmed Morehead State's lead to 30-22 at the half. The Bulldogs were led in scoring by Montgomery's eight points in the first stanza.

Samford's Merritt came off the bench to add six points and three rebounds in the opening period. The Bulldogs opened the game with an untraditional starting lineup and Merritt was not listed as a starter for the first time in 44 games.

The last time that Merritt did not start for Samford was Nov. 16, 2006, in a non-conference matchup at Towson.

"I thought that once our seniors came back in, we started to play well in the first half," Tillette said. "We were able to cut their lead to eight at halftime and we even opened the second half well. We made it a 32-31 game early in the second half, but then after that it was lights out for us."

The Bulldogs' starting five Thursday was sophomore Fraine, freshman Davis, freshman Andy King, freshman Gaby Bermudez and sophomore Montgomery. The start was the first of Davis' collegiate career.

Morehead State, behind the play of Faried, jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the game and held a 13-4 advantage with 15:11 remaining in the first half.

Faried, a native of Newark, N.J., led all players with 14 points and eight rebounds in the first half alone. He came into the game averaging 9.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday as the Bulldogs conclude their two-game road trip with a matchup against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels at 6 p.m. (CST) in Richmond, Ky.