Feb. 14, 2008

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team dropped a 64-58 decision at home against the Morehead State Eagles on Thursday. Samford built a 50-37 lead in the second half, but Morehead State rallied for the victory with a 27-8 run down the stretch.

"This was a tough loss for us, especially because I thought that we played well enough to win," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We dropped a couple of balls out of bounds late in the game, and Morehead (State) came down and hit some open shots in transition. We did a bad job of guarding their shooters down the stretch."

Despite the loss, Samford (11-14, 8-9 Ohio Valley Conference) remained in seventh place in the league standings. Following Thursday's action, the Bulldogs were deadlocked with Tennessee State for the seventh position.

Earlier this season, Samford and Tennessee State split the annual home-and-home series with each team winning on the opponent's home floor.

With the tough-luck loss, the Bulldogs dropped their second straight conference game and fell to 6-7 at home this season. Samford finished with three players scoring in double figures and were led in scoring by senior Travis Peterson's 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Both Bryan Friday and Joe Ross Merritt added 12 points for the Bulldogs. .

Morehead State (13-11, 10-6 OVC) earned its ninth win in 11 games and moved into a two-way tie for third place in the conference standings. The Eagles are tied for third with the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. Samford will play host to Eastern Kentucky on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Morehead State also finished with three players scoring in double figures Thursday. Sophomore Maze Stallworth knocked down a game-high five 3-pointers en route to a 15-point performance, while Jamyron Steward tallied his 15 points on a 5-of-10 outing from the field.

The Eagles' Leon Buchanan added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Samford's Merritt came just two rebounds shy of recording his first career double-double Thursday. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-4 wing player tied a career-high with eight rebounds to go along with his 12 points.

Samford trailed 28-26 at the half, but exploded for a quick 16-3 run early in the second period to take a 42-31 advantage with 15:18 remaining in the game.

During the run, the Bulldogs knocked down four-straight 3-pointers, a pair from Peterson and one each from Merritt and Trey Montgomery. Montgomery finished the game with seven points and three assists.

A little less than six minutes later, after a 3-point field goal from redshirt freshman Andy King, Samford extended its lead to 50-37 with 9:47 remaining.

It was then that Morehead State went on its decisive 27-8 run to close out the game. During the Eagles' come-from-behind rally, Stallworth hit a pair of back-to-back 3s, and then Demonte Harper scored eight in a row for Morehead State to tie the Bulldogs at 53-53 with 52 seconds remaining.

With the score tied, Samford committed a turnover that led to another Stallworth 3-pointer, and then the Bulldogs turned the ball over again and Steward dunked it home to take a 58-53 advantage.

"We just didn't finish the game," Tillette said. "This loss hurts. I thought that we did a good job of shooting them out of their zone defense, but then they played us physically down the stretch and we missed our shots. We also missed some free throws, which hurt us as well."

Samford shot a solid 44 percent from beyond the arc, but Morehead State bettered the Bulldogs with a 50 percent outing from 3-point range. The Eagles were 15-of-18 from the free-throw line, while the Bulldogs were 7-of-12.

Samford led 52-45 with five minutes left in the game. Therefore, the defeat was the Bulldogs' first of the season when they were leading with five minutes remaining. Samford dropped to 10-1 in the category.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 7 p.m., as the Bulldogs host the Eastern Kentucky Colonels in their home finale at the Pete Hanna Center.

Fans are encouraged to arrive early for Samford's "Senior Night" presentation, where graduating seniors Joe Ross Merritt and Travis Peterson will be recognized before the game for their five years of hard work and dedication.