Feb. 22, 2005

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team used a career-high 21 points from senior Bryan Boerjan and a milestone performance from junior J. Robert Merritt to defeat the Jacksonville State Gamecocks, 84-75, in Seibert Hall on Tuesday.

With the win, Samford (15-11, 10-5 Ohio Valley Conference) swept its annual series against Jacksonville State (7-21, 2-13 OVC) and improved to a 10-2 record at home this season. The victory was also the Bulldogs' third-straight over JSU in Seibert Hall.

"To be honest with you, we found a way to win, but I think that we came out and played a bit lethargic," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We didn't play with the type of energy that we needed to play with and we allowed them to shoot 55.8 percent. I thought that J. Robert (Merritt), Jon (Mills) and Bryan (Boerjan) had outstanding games for us."

Merritt finished the contest with 20 points and became the 19th player in Samford history to score 1,000 points in a career. The Bulldogs' 6-6 junior from Oklahoma City, Okla., shot 5-of-8 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe in earning his 17th-consecutive, double-digit scoring performance.

"It's a great honor to reach 1,000 points and it just shows what good teammates I've had here at Samford," said Merritt. "It was just a great thing to have happen and I'm just glad that it came in a big win for us."

Former Bulldog-great Chris Weaver was the most recent person to reach 1,000 career points as he accomplished the feat on his "Senior Night" nearly three years ago to the day on Feb. 23, 2002. Weaver finished his Samford career with 1,009 points. Merritt has already tallied 1,003 points and has one season of eligibility remaining.

Boerjan, the Bulldogs' 6-7 forward from Rock Falls, Ill., turned in a special performance on his "Senior Night" on Tuesday.

Samford's heady post player scored a career-high 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor and at one point connected on six-straight shots. From the 11:48 mark in the first half until exactly 13:01 remaining in the second period, Boerjan scored 13 points and did not miss a shot.

"We knew that we would be able to take advantage of our size inside against them and we did a good job of playing within the offense," said Boerjan. "I was able to get some easy looks and I got it going early on in the game."

Boerjan tallied 11 of his 21 points in the first half and finished the opening 20 minutes of play shooting 5-of-6 from the field. As one of four Samford seniors to be honored prior to the game, he outscored his previous career-high of 17 points, which he recently recorded on the road against Eastern Illinois.

"I felt good tonight," Boerjan said. "The shots were just falling for me and I wasn't going to try and force the issue at all. I just let the ball come to me and luckily I was able to get some easy shots. It was a special night for me and it felt good to play at home with some family in town. It was a great night overall."

Boerjan finished the contest with four rebounds, two assists a block and a steal.

"Bryan (Boerjan) played great," Merritt said. "This was probably one of the best games of his career and it couldn't have happened for a better guy. He was the key to the whole night for us and he was basically the one scoring in the first half for us. He just set the pace and he made some good passes on some good cuts."

Each of Samford's starting five players registered double-figure scoring performances on Tuesday.

Sophomore guard Randall Gulina muscled his way to 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while both Jerry Smith and Jon Mills earned 11-point games. Mills, who also celebrated "Senior Night" against Jacksonville State on Tuesday, led the team in rebounds with five and shot 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.

"I thought that we did a great job on the offensive end tonight," Tillette said. "We finished with five guys scoring in double digits and we ended up with 84 points, which is our highest point total of the season so far. We also did a better job of shooting from the free-throw line and that was definitely something that we needed to work on."

All five of the Gamecocks' starters finished the game with double-figure scoring on Tuesday.

Junior guard Walker D. Russell led the team with 21 points, six rebounds and five assists, but committed five costly turnovers. Jacksonville State turned the ball over 13 times, while the Bulldogs were limited to 10 miscues.

The Gamecocks' Anthony Wilson notched 20 points, Brandon Davis scored 13, Tim Lewis added 11 and B.J. Spencer finished with a total of 10. Jacksonville State did not receive any points from its bench. The Bulldogs concluded Tuesday's game with eight.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action on Thursday as the Bulldogs undergo a quick turnaround between conference games and square off against the Tennessee State Tigers at 7:30 p.m., at the H.C. Gentry Complex in Nashville, Tenn.