Feb. 28, 2008

Box Score

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Samford University basketball team clinched a berth in the 2008 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Thursday as the Bulldogs rallied late for a critical 68-62 road victory against the Southeast Missouri Redhawks.

"I thought that our guys played hard tonight and I'm proud of how they competed throughout the entire game," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "This was a great win for our team and for the program. Right now, we just need to rest up and get ready to play Eastern Illinois on Saturday."

With the win, Samford (14-14, 10-9 OVC) secured at least a No. 7 seed in the upcoming postseason tournament.

The Bulldogs also have a chance to host a first-round game Tuesday if they defeat Eastern Illinois on Saturday and both Tennessee State and UT Martin lose. Eastern Kentucky would have to beat Tennessee State at home and then Murray State would also have to defeat UT Martin at home.

"Everything for us now comes down to Saturday," Tillette said. "Saturday is a huge game for us and obviously Eastern Illinois is excited to play and it will be their Senior Night. They beat Jacksonville State by 16 points tonight and they've been playing a lot better as of late. We need to rest and get excited about playing our last regular season game."

On Saturday, Samford will play on the road at Eastern Illinois in a game slated to begin at 7 p.m., in Charleston, Ill. Earlier this season, the Bulldogs rallied for a 65-52 come-from-behind victory at home against the Panthers.

Against Southeast Missouri (12-18, 7-11 OVC) on Thursday, Samford's Travis Peterson led the Bulldogs with 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field. He also paced the team with six rebounds, five assists and two blocks. Peterson played 36 minutes in the game and knocked down three 3-point baskets.

With only 1:40 left to play in the game, Samford trailed 62-61.

Then, coming off a Bulldogs' 30-second timeout, Peterson caught a pass from Josh Bedwell in the left corner and drained a key 3-point basket to give Samford a 64-62 advantage. On the ensuing possession, Southeast Missouri's Jaycen Herring missed an off-balance jumper and Bedwell grabbed the rebound.

The Bulldogs then ran through their offense on the other side of the court and found Bedwell open in the left corner for another 3-point basket. With Bedwell's 3-pointer, his third of the game, Samford took a decisive 67-62 advantage.

Bedwell, who came off the bench to score 11 points in 28 minutes of play, finished a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor and 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.

"We had some guys hit some huge shots down the stretch," said Tillette. "I thought that Travis (Peterson) hit a big shot from the corner and then (Josh) Bedwell hit another one from almost the same spot. It was a good night for us shooting the basketball and everyone that played for us contributed."

Samford finished with four players scoring in double figures for the fifth time this season. Along with Peterson's 17 points and Bedwell's 11, Trey Montgomery added 12 for the Bulldogs and Bryan Friday finished with 10.

Samford shot 48 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from 3-point range.

Southeast Missouri was led in scoring by Herring's 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. The Redhawks' junior forward also grabbed four rebounds and was 5-for-7 from the free-throw line.

At halftime, Samford held a 29-25 advantage. The Bulldogs' Peterson led all scorers with nine points in the opening period and he scored four of Samford's final seven points of the first half.

The game started as a defensive struggle and the Bulldogs held the Redhawks scoreless for the opening seven minutes of play. Southeast Missouri's David Johnson scored the team's first points of the game with 12:56 remaining in the opening half. At the time, Samford led 8-2.

Samford increased its lead to 11-4 at the 11:19 mark when the pace of the game started to quicken. Southeast Missouri started to make a comeback when Montgomery completed a key 4-point play to give the Bulldogs a 22-13 lead.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 7 p.m., as the Bulldogs close out their regular-season schedule on the road against the Eastern Illinois Panthers. The OVC matchup will be held at Lantz Arena (5,300) in Charleston, Ill.