Feb. 23, 2008

Box Score

RUSTON, La. - The Samford University basketball team opened its three-game regular season-ending road trip with a thrilling 73-70 victory Saturday, as the Bulldogs' Travis Peterson registered the game-winning 3-point play with .5 seconds remaining in overtime to defeat Louisiana Tech.

In the victory, which was a part of the ESPNU BracketBusters Challenge, Samford (13-14) was led in scoring by Bryan Friday's game-high 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. The total proved to be a career-high for Friday, bettering his previous best of 18 points.

Peterson followed with 18 points for Samford, including the game-winning 3-point play in overtime. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-10 center also added eight assists, five rebounds and a game-high six free throws.

"I thought that was a really good win for us," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "Louisiana Tech does not have a qualitative record, but they play well at home and tonight they played as a quality basketball team. I thought that it was huge for us to win on the road against a team that played well on their home floor."

With 1:25 left in regulation, Louisiana Tech held a 61-57 lead, its biggest advantage of the night. After a pair of free throws from James Loe, Samford's Friday scored on an up-and-under layup to trim the lead to 61-59.

On the ensuing possession, Samford's Joe Ross Merritt grabbed the rebound following a JC Clark missed 3-pointer and the Bulldogs' pushed the ball down the court.

The Bulldogs then ran through their offense and found Trey Montgomery at the top of the key with 10 seconds left. Montgomery faked a 3-pointer, took a dribble to his right, crossed the ball over to his left hand and drove down the lane for the game-tying basket with two seconds remaining.

The layup proved to be the biggest two points of Montgomery's 16-point night. Samford's 6-foot-4 guard from Destrehan, La., was 7-of-11 from the field and pulled down six rebounds.

"Our team never gave up and they were focused and kept moving forward with a lot of positive energy," Tillette said. "I'm proud of our guys. Trey had a great play to send it into overtime and Bryan played well all game. I thought that Joe Ross made a great play to get the ball to Travis, and then Travis was able to make the shot with a defender hanging all over him."

In overtime, Samford scored the first six points of the extra period and took a quick 67-61 advantage. Louisiana Tech (4-21) then rallied to score the next seven points to earn a 68-67 lead. Drew Washington scored five-straight points for the Bulldogs during the stretch.

Samford then used a jumper from Friday and a free throw from Peterson to take a 70-68 advantage. With 15 seconds left in overtime, Louisiana Tech tied the score at 70-70 as Loe knocked down an eight-foot jumper from the left wing.

Following the basket, Samford's Montgomery drove the ball down the court and missed a one-handed runner from the left side of the goal. On the rebound, two Louisiana Tech players went after the ball and knocked it out of bounds.

Samford's Merritt then inbounded the ball to Peterson who scored the game-winning right-handed layup with a Louisiana Tech defender hanging on his shoulder. Merritt then knocked down the free throw to give Samford its final 73-70 victory.

In the loss, Louisiana Tech finished with four players scoring in double figures. The Bulldogs were led by Orren Tims' 19 points and nine rebounds. Kyle Gibson followed with 15 points, while Washington added 13 and Loe finished with 10.

At halftime, Samford led Louisiana Tech 28-23.

The Bulldogs featured a balanced scoring attack in the opening period of play and had six players make field goals in the first half. Peterson led Samford with seven first-half points, while Friday added six and Montgomery tallied five.

Samford used an early 8-0 run to take a 15-5 lead with 12:47 remaining in the half. The Bulldogs capped their streak with four-straight points from Merritt followed by a jump hook from Peterson.

With 7:41 to play in the first half, Samford held a 24-14 advantage following a driving, fast-break layup from Josh Davis. Louisiana Tech ended the opening period on a 9-4 run to make the score at the half 28-23.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 7:30 p.m., as the Bulldogs begin their final regular-season road trip of the 2007-08 campaign against the Southeast Missouri Redhawks in Cape Girardeau, Mo.