Jan. 25, 2003

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TIPOFF: Sunday, Jan. 26, 2003, 3 p.m. Trojan Arena; Troy, Ala.

AIR: The game can be heard on WVSU 91.1-FM and the internet at www.samfordsports.com.

SAMFORD: Samford enters Sunday's battle with Troy State in fourth place in the A-Sun North at 3-3. The Bulldogs are a half game out of third place and only one game behind Belmont and Georgia State who are tied for the top spot. The game marks the first time Samford has played a men's basketball game on a Sunday in the 31 years Samford has played Division I basketball. Junior Eddie Harper has given Samford a spark off the bench in the last two games. He averaged 17 pts, 5.5 rebounds, and shot 55% (10-18) from the floor against Jacksonville State and Mercer. Tyson Dorsey is 46-101 (45.5%) from 3-point range this season and averages 2.71 3's per game. Phillip Ramelli leads Samford averaging 11.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Ramelli is 6th in the A-Sun in FG percentage at 58 percent. Head coach Jimmy Tillette is four wins away from becoming the first Samford head coach to reach 100 wins.

TROY STATE: Troy State is in a three-way tie with UCF and Mercer atop the South Division with a 5-1 conference mark. The Trojans have won six of their last seven games after coming from behind to beat Belmont 67-64, Friday night in Nashville. TSU has used big second half comebacks in three of their five A-Sun wins. They trailed by 18 at halftime against JU, by four at half against Stetson, and by 14 at half against Belmont. Rob Lewin leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 13 points and 7.8 boards per game. Ben Fletcher averages 12.4 points and has made 43 three-pointers on the season. Greg Davis averages 10.9 points for Troy State who leads the A-Sun in scoring offensive at 79.7 ppg, rebounding (41.1), blocked shots (5.4), and 3-pointers made at 9.4.

INSIDE STUFF: The Bulldogs and Trojans have split 32 meetings since they first met in Birmingham in 1950. The Bulldogs have won seven of the last ten meetings but the two teams have split the season series the last two years. Samford won last season's game in Troy 68-65 while TSU won 64-52 in Birmingham. Expect a lot of three point shots as Troy State and Samford are No. 1 and No. 2 in the A-Sun in made three-pointers per game.

NEXT: The Bulldogs make their final trip to Florida as members of the Atlantic Sun conference. Samford will face Florida Atlantic on Thursday, Jan. 30, in a 7 p.m. ET game.