Jan. 19, 2008

Box Score

RICHMOND, Ky. - The Samford University basketball team turned in its best all-around performance of the 2007-08 season Saturday as the Bulldogs rallied for a 64-57 come-from-behind win on the road against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels at McBrayer Arena.

In the victory, Samford (8-10, 5-5 Ohio Valley Conference) outscored Eastern Kentucky (8-10, 5-5 OVC) 39-23 in the second half and snapped a three-game losing streak. With their loss, the Colonels had their two-game winning streak broken.

"I'm so proud of our entire team," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We tweaked some things with our lineup last game, but we just couldn't get it right, but tonight, I thought that our guys met as a team and gave a great effort. This is a really good Eastern Kentucky team and this was a good win for us on their home court."

The Bulldogs' Bryan Friday scored a career-high 18 points. Samford's 6-foot-6 sophomore shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the field and was 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. Friday also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds and finished 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.

"I thought that Bryan had a great game tonight," Tillette said. "He's gone through a lot of adversity this year, and I felt that he was finally starting to come into his own in our last game against Morehead State. He has really added a lot to our team, both offensively and defensively.

Samford was also buoyed by the play of guards Gaby Bermudez and Trey Montgomery.

Bermudez, the Bulldogs' redshirt freshman from Miami, Fla., tallied career-highs in assists (7), rebounds (4) and minutes (30). He also added five points while consistently beating the Colonels' 1-3-1 zone. Bermudez was 1-for-3 from the field and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.

"Gaby Bermudez was really good at the top of the zone for us," said Tillette. "He finished with seven assists and hit some big shots. He was really, really solid for us tonight."

Samford's Montgomery also played a key role in defeating Eastern Kentucky's zone defenses. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-4 guard from Destrehan, La., finished with 12 points, a career-high eight assists, four steals and two rebounds. Montgomery was also 5-for-7 from the field and 2-for-4 from beyond the arc.

Eastern Kentucky's Mike Rose exploded for 28 points, but the rest of the team only combined to score 29. The Colonels' Adam Leonard turned in 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting, while center Darnell Dialls added seven. Eastern Kentucky shot 47.7 percent from the field and 45.8 percent from 3-point range.

Samford turned in season-highs in both field-goal percentage and 3-point field-goal percentage.

The Bulldogs shot 48 percent from beyond the arc and 58.5 percent from the floor. Samford knocked down a season-high 12 3-point field goals and were led by Friday and Joe Ross Merritt, who both finished with four baskets from downtown.

"We were able to make a lot of good 3s tonight, especially from the corner," Tillette said. "Joe Ross wasn't great from beyond the arc, but he made enough. Then, as we were able to make some shots from the outside, both Gaby and Trey found Travis (Peterson) for some layups."

Merritt tallied 12 points, four assists and three rebounds Saturday. He was 4-for-11 from beyond the arc and knocked down a number of key baskets.

Fellow-senior Travis Peterson also scored 12 points and was 6-of-11 from the floor. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-10 center from Glendale, Ariz., always plays well against the Colonels and added four rebounds and two steals.

After trailing 34-25 at halftime, Samford shot a sizzling 63.6 percent in the second period and rallied for its 64-57 comeback victory.

The Bulldogs opened the second half with a 15-5 run. Samford played stifling defense during the stretch, and the run was capped off by back-to-back 3-pointers from Bermudez and Montgomery.

Eastern Kentucky led all game until Friday hit a deep 3-point basket from the right baseline to give Samford a 40-39 advantage. The Bulldogs' first lead of the night came with 14:11 remaining in the contest.

Samford's defense forced Eastern Kentucky into a five-minute drought midway through the second period. The Colonels shot 45 percent from the field in the final half, but were out-rebounded by the Bulldogs 24-14.

"Defensively, we played with more intensity in the second half and our guys really stepped up," said Tillette. "In the first half, we were soft on Rose and some of their other shooters and we didn't do a good job of keeping them in front. In the second half, we played their shooters more aggressively and tried not to give them any easy looks."

Eastern Kentucky's Rose scored 18 points in the first half and led his team to a 34-25 advantage at the intermission. The Colonels' 6-foot-4 junior from Naperville, Ill., was 6-for-9 from the floor and a near-perfect 4-for-5 from 3-point range in the opening period.

Rose scored 14 of Eastern Kentucky's first 19 points of the game, including 14 in a row.

Despite Rose's breakout first half, Samford only trailed 26-25 with 2:40 left in the opening period. Following a 3-point basket from Merritt, his second of the game, Eastern Kentucky concluded the half with an 8-0 run to take its nine-point lead at the intermission.

Merritt and Peterson both scored six points for the Bulldogs in the first half as they shot a solid 52.6 percent from the field. Samford was 5-of-11 (45.5 percent) from beyond the arc in the opening period, but Eastern Kentucky turned in a 57.1 (8-of-14) performance from 3-point range.

The Colonels jumped out to an early 16-10 advantage in the game, but the Bulldogs used a 3-pointer from Merritt and a double-pump layup from Peterson to trim their lead to 19-18 with 7:35 remaining in the half.

Samford's Friday added five points in the opening period, while both Josh Bedwell and Montgomery knocked down 3-point field goals for three points apiece.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 7:30 p.m., as the Bulldogs return home to the Pete Hanna Center for the opening contest of a two-game homestand versus the UT Martin Skyhawks. Samford will then close out its brief time at home against the first-place Austin Peay Governors on Saturday at 7 p.m.