Dec. 2, 2002

Box Score

JONESBORO, Ark. - J. Robert Merritt penetrated and fed Phillip Ramelli for a lay-up basket with :03 seconds remaining to give Samford a hard-fought, come from behind 68-67 win over Arkansas State Monday.

Ramelli's game winner was precipitated by two consecutive big plays by junior Eddie Harper. With :26 seconds to play Harper nailed a 3-pointer, his fifth of the game, to bring the Bulldogs within one at 67-66. Samford quickly called a timeout. On the ensuing throw-in Arkansas State lofted a length of the court pass to Tevoris Thompson, who went up for what appeared to be a sure two for the Indians. The ball rolled off the rim and was snatched by Harper, who fed the ball up court for the winning score. Jon Beck misfired on a desperation shot at the buzzer and the 4,599 in attendance saw Samford escape from the Convocation Center with a win and a 3-1 record.

"Our defense kept us in the game," said coach Jimmy Tillette. "I can't say enough about Eddie and J. Robert's effort tonight. We're on a long road trip, a month of December road trip. The light at the end of the tunnel for us is January. But we needed a light in the tunnel and this is it."

Defense became critical to the Bulldogs due to an inability to find scoring down the stretch. Harper hit two free throws to cut the Arkansas State lead to two, 65-63, with 4:17 remaining. Neither team scored again until Tony Brown hit two free throws with :59 seconds left to give the Indians a 67-63 lead. The score remained the same until Harper hit the big 3-pointer off an assist from Cornell Felton. Besides making the big basket, Harper shut down the opposition's most consistent scoring threat. Thompson killed Samford in the first 25 minutes, scoring 17 points on four 3-pointers. Harper put the clamps on Thompson defensively, holding him to four points in the final 15 minutes.

"We gave (Thompson) too much space in the first half," Tillette said. "But we continued to guard and play hard and play sticky."

Samford's toughness led to the late heroics by Ramelli, who led the Bulldogs with 19 points and seven rebounds, and Merritt, who scored 14 points and shot 4-6 on 3-pointers. Tillette had an idea something good was about to happen when the ball reached Merritt's hands in the waning moments.

"J. Robert has an unbelievable feel for the game," Tillette said. "He has so much poise, and when he penetrated he made a great pass to Phillip who finished." The Bulldogs need not unpack. Samford heads to Springfield, Mo., for two games beginning Friday night against Southwest Missouri State. The Bulldogs then play either Florida International or Wisconsin-Miliwaukee.

If the Bulldogs keep pulling out wins like Monday night, they could get used to life on the road.

They really don't have much choice. As Tillette said, "Now all we have is seven more road games in a row."