Jan. 8, 2005

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team shot a sizzling 60.9 percent from the field on Saturday as the Bulldogs moved to 2-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play in a 79-68 victory over the Tennessee State Tigers at Seibert Hall.

"I have to give a lot of credit to our players," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "I think that this was the best that we've run our half-court offense all year and it's always good when the ball's going in. I couldn't be happier for our guys, but winning is a fragile thing. We need to stay humble and we need to continue to improve and get better."

Samford (7-6, 2-0 OVC) earned its second-straight victory and took a 5-4 advantage in the all-time series against Tennessee State (6-10, 1-1 OVC). Last season, in the Bulldogs' inaugural season in the conference, the teams split the home-and-home series as each team won on its home court.

In front of a raucous crowd at Seibert Hall on Saturday, Samford won its third-consecutive home game and had five players reach double-figure scoring.

The Bulldogs' Josh Hare led the team with a season-high 14 points as he finished the game 3-of-4 from the beyond the arc. Junior forward J. Robert Merritt followed closely with 14 points, while guards Jerry Smith and Curtis West tallied 11 points apiece.

Jon Mills, the Bulldogs' senior from Winfield, Ala., scored 10 points on Saturday and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. He shot 4-of-6 from the field and came through in the clutch by scoring eight of his 10 points in the second half.

Tennessee State, which was picked to finished second in the OVC's preseason coaches poll, dropped its ninth road game of the 2004-05 season and fell to a 1-9 record when playing away from Nashville, Tenn.

The Tigers shot 49.0 percent from the floor, but were outrebounded by Samford, 28-19. Tennessee State's junior guard Wayne Arnold led the team with 17 points and commandeered the Tigers' comeback attempt in the second half.

Despite trailing by 23 points, 59-36, with 12:49 remaining in regulation, Tennessee State strung together a 20-3 run and cut the Bulldogs' lead to 62-56 at the 8:00 mark. Arnold connected on a two deep 3-point attempts during the stretch and finished the game 6-of-10 from the field.

"I have to give a lot of credit to Tennessee State," said Tillette. "They fell behind early in the game, but they never gave up. They used their pressure defense to get back into the game and I thought that they did a great job of forcing us into some turnovers. I had our guys spaced incorrectly on defense, but I have to credit our kids for playing through that."

Samford jumped out to an early 13-point lead on Saturday as the Bulldogs built a 29-16 advantage with 6:59 remaining in the first half. West, Samford's speedy freshman from Baton Rouge, La., hit a pair of key 3-point baskets early in the game and finished the contest with a career-high 11 points.

Despite playing without the services of its starting 2-guard, Randall Gulina, Samford received 29 points from its non-starters and outscored Tennessee State's bench, 29-21. Gulina, who was injured in the Bulldogs' 64-60 overtime victory over Jacksonville State on Tuesday, is the team's second-leading scorer and holds an average of 10.8 points per game.

"We really pulled together as a team without Randall," Tillette said. "He is our second-leading scorer and he is our best player off of the bounce. He would have been the best guy to attack their pressure and some of their double-teams today. I thought everybody on our team contributed to our win."

The Bulldogs led at the half, 41-28, behind their best first-half shooting performance of the season. Samford shot an unprecedented 75.0 percent from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes of play and finished the first half with a sizzling 71.4 mark from the floor.

Samford's senior forward, Hare, also turned in a crucial first half of play against Tennessee State. The Bulldogs' native of Cleveland, Tenn., tallied 11 points in the opening 20 minutes and knocked down a buzzer-beating 10-foot jumper to end the half.

Joe Ross Merritt, Samford's redshirt freshman from Oklahoma City, Okla., made his first career start on Saturday and played 20 minutes of hardnosed basketball.

The Bulldogs' shooting guard, who replaced Gulina in the starting lineup, scored nine crucial points against Tennessee State and paced Samford early in the second half. He registered six of his nine points in the second period and shot 4-of-7 from the floor.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action on Thursday, Jan. 13, as the Bulldogs continue their OVC schedule at home against the Murray State Racers in a 7 p.m. matchup in Seibert Hall.