Feb. 28, 2006

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team advanced to the semifinal round of the 2006 O'Reilly Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Tuesday as the Bulldogs used a 15-point, nine-assist, eight-rebound performance from Jerry Smith to defeat the Tennessee State Tigers, 78-67, in front of a raucous crowd in Seibert Hall.

With the win, No. 2-seed Samford (19-10) will move on in the tournament and face third-seeded Tennessee Tech on Friday at 8:30 p.m., in the Gaylord Entertainment Center located in downtown Nashville, Tenn.

It was the first time that the Bulldogs reached the second round of a conference tournament since the 2000-01 season.

"I think that we did a great job of taking care of the ball today," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We only turned the ball over six times and we also shot the ball well. J. Robert (Merritt) shot great from beyond the arc, as usual, and I thought that Jerry Smith did an outstanding job of controlling the job for us."

Smith, Samford's junior point guard from Picayune, Miss., turned in one of his best performances of the season and nearly recorded a triple-double. He finished the game with 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, while shooting 5-of-10 from the field and only committed one turnover.

"Jerry had a spectacular game for us and I thought that he did a great job of taking care of the basketball and he made four big free throws for us."

With the Bulldogs leading 71-63 late in the game, Tennessee State (13-15) started fouling to save time on the clock and Smith knocked down four-consecutive free throws. His clutch shooting helped extend Samford's advantage to 75-65 with 32 seconds remaining.

The Bulldogs shot 90.5 percent from the charity stripe on Tuesday, while the Tigers were even better at 92.3 percent from the free-throw line.

Samford's J. Robert Merritt led all scorers with 22 points on a 6-of-12 shooting performance from the floor and knocked down 5-of-8 of his 3-point field-goal attempts. The Bulldogs' senior from Oklahoma City, Okla., played in his final game at Seibert Hall and inched ever closer to setting the OVC's single-season 3-point record.

With a current Samford record of 109 3-point baskets this year, Merritt is only four shy of setting the conference's all-time mark. He is also ranked fourth in the nation in 3-point shooting at 48.4 percent.

Travis Peterson, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-10 sophomore from Glendale, Ariz., added 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting on Tuesday and drained a pair of critical second-half 3-pointers. He also turned in the play of the game with a highlight-reel dunk in the second period to give Samford a 54-43 lead with 11:57 remaining.

"I think that Travis (Peterson) did a great job on the defensive end and we were able to take away (Kareem) Grant and (Wayne) Arnold from the arc," said Tillette. "We had to make a choice heading into the game and we decided to take away their 3-point shooters and give up some twos."

Tennessee State had four players score in double figures, but only six players scored for the Tigers.

Reiley Ervin and Wayne Arnold each tallied 20 points apiece, while Clarence Matthews and Courtney Bohannon scored 11. Tennessee State's Ervin, Arnold, Matthews and Bohannon accounted for 62 of the team's 67 points.

The Tigers shot 54.2 percent from the floor in the first half and fought to a 34-34 tie at the intermission. Samford finished with a 48-percent first-half performance and shot 52.4 percent from beyond the arc.

Samford's Ryan Woolsey and Curtis West each played well off the bench for the Bulldogs and combined for 15 points.

Woolsey, a native of Valliant, Okla., was 4-of-5 from the field and scored nine, while West added six points and four assists, and was a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. Woolsey also finished with four assists in the game.

The Samford University basketball team will continue its quest for an automatic berth in the 2006 NCAA Tournament on Friday as the Bulldogs head to Nashville, Tenn., for an 8:30 p.m. matchup against the third-seeded Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles.

The semifinal round game will be held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center and will be aired live on ESPNU. It can also be heard on WVSU 91.1 or via the Internet at www.SamfordSports.com.