Jan. 4, 2005

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team rallied to defeat the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in the opening game of the 2005 Ohio Valley Conference season on Tuesday as the Bulldogs earned a hard-fought 68-64 overtime victory on the road in Pete Mathews Coliseum.

"We played a great first half, they played a great second half and we were lucky enough to pull it out in overtime," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "Jacksonville State came out more aggressively than we did in the second half and they caused us into a lot of turnovers."

Samford (6-6, 1-0 OVC) received a double-double performance from sophomore Jerry Smith and a team-high 21 points from junior sharpshooter J. Robert Merritt to hold off a resurgent Jacksonville State (4-9, 0-1 OVC) squad in the fifth overtime of the all-time series.

The Gamecocks will next square off against Tennessee State on Thursday, while Samford is scheduled to host the same Tennessee State squad on Saturday at 2 p.m.

With the score of the contest knotted at 57-57, Smith took a pass from forward Bryan Boerjan and knocked down a crucial 3-point basket to give Samford its decisive lead. Smith, the Bulldogs' native of Picayune, Miss., registered the first double-double of his career as finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

"Jerry Smith hit a huge 3-pointer for us tonight and he hit a key free throw to send the game into overtime," Tillette said. "We made plays when we had to down the stretch. I thought that they did a good job of spreading us out defensively and they were able to penetrate and score on us in the second half."

On the final possession of regulation, Smith drew a foul with six seconds remaining and canned the final of two free throws to send the game into overtime.

Jacksonville State strung together a 19-4 run early in the second half that lasted 5:04. The Bulldogs led 34-18 at the half, but JSU cut the deficit to 38-37 with 14:07 to go in the second period. The Gamecocks finished with three players in double figures and were led by Walker Russell's 18 points.

"We lost our lead and then we started to sulk a little bit, but I have to give a lot of credit to Jacksonville State," Tillette said. "They played well in the second half and they were hitting their shots. We turned the ball over a lot in the second half and they took us out of our rhythm on offense."

Samford jumped out to an early 17-4 lead in the game behind the early scoring from both Merritt and Mills. At 11:56 remaining in the first half, Merritt nailed a key 3-point basket from the left wing to give the Bulldogs their initial 13-point lead.

Heading into halftime, Samford built a lopsided 34-18 advantage and held the Gamecocks to their lowest scoring output since last season's conference-opener against the Bulldogs. On Jan. 6, 2004, Samford limited JSU to 15 points at the half, but the Gamecocks were leading the contest, 17-15.

The Bulldogs shot a sizzling 64.7 percent from the field in the opening half of play on Tuesday and connected on a season-high 7-of-9 3-point attempts. Samford had two players score in double figures during the opening period of play as Merritt and Mills each posted 4-of-4 shooting from the floor.

Merritt scored 14 points in the first half and Mills followed closely with 10.

"We had a great first half today and they had a great second half," said Tillette. "We just happened to find a way to win in the overtime. I was proud of our kids that they were able to find a way to win. When you lose a big lead like that, it's discouraging, but our kids were gritty and of course made some plays down the stretch."

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action on Saturday, Jan. 8, as the Bulldogs continue their OVC schedule at home against the Tennessee State Tigers in a 2 p.m. matchup in Seibert Hall.