March 1, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Samford's senior guard Randall Gulina was named to the prestigious First-Team All-Ohio Valley Conference team on Thursday as the league office held its annual postseason awards banquet at the Opryland Hotel.

Gulina, the Bulldogs' fiery 6-foot-1 sharpshooter from Baton Rouge, La., is currently tied for the OVC-lead in scoring and is averaging 18 points per game.

At the end of the regular season, he was ranked fifth in the conference 3-pointers made per game (2.53), sixth in free-throw percentage (78.9%), 10th in 3-point percentage (37.1%) and 10th in minutes played (33.2). Gulina has also pulled down 3.4 rebounds per contest, dished out 36 total assists and tallied 27 steals on the season.

He has scored in double figures in 29 of 31 games during his senior season, including a career-high (and OVC single-season high) 38 points in a win over Tennessee Temple. Gulina was named to the All-Tournament team at the LSU's Hispanic College Funds Classic in his hometown of Baton Rouge, La.

Gulina is the second-consecutive Samford player to earn First-Team All-OVC honors. A year ago, J. Robert Merritt was a consensus first-team performer and was named the OVC Player of the Year. He was later named the OVC's Male Athlete of the Year.

Austin Peay's Drake Reed was named the 2007 OVC Player of the Year on Thursday.

His coach, Dave Loos, earned Coach of the Year honors, while Eastern Illinois' Romain Martin and Eastern Kentucky's Adam Leonard each won a share of the Freshman of the Year award.

Joining Gulina on the All-OVC First Team were Tennessee Tech's Anthony Fisher and Belton Rivers, as well as Jacksonville State's Courtney Bradley and Austin Peay's Reed.

The semifinal round of the 2007 OVC Tournament will be played Friday at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in downtown Nashville, Tenn.

Fifth-seeded Samford will square off against the No. 1-seed Austin Peay at 5:30 p.m., before No. 2 Eastern Kentucky and No. 3 Tennessee Tech are scheduled to tip-off at 8 p.m.

Both of the semifinal-round games will be televised live on ESPNU.

2006-07 Ohio Valley Conference Awards

OVC Player of the Year: Drake Reed, Austin Peay
OVC Co-Freshmen of the Year: Adam Leonard, Eastern Kentucky and Romain Martin, Eastern Illinois
OVC Coach of the Year: Dave Loos, Austin Peay

ALL-OVC FIRST TEAM

NAME, SCHOOL POS. HT. WT. CL. HOMETOWN KEY STATS
*#Courtney Bradley, Jacksonville State F 6'5 215 Sr. Utica, Miss. 17.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 46.2 FG%
Anthony Fisher, Tennessee Tech G 6'2 180 Jr. Alpharetta, Ga. 17.3 ppg, 4.1 apg, 42.1 FG%
Randall Gulina, Samford G 6'1 200 Sr. Baton Rouge, La. 17.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 76 3-pointers
Drake Reed, Austin Peay F 6'5 235 So. Clarksville, Tenn. 15.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 53.0 FG%
#Belton Rivers, Tennessee Tech G 6'4 180 Sr. Atlanta, Ga. 18.0 ppg, 2.5 apg, 88 3-pointers

ALL-OVC SECOND TEAM

NAME, SCHOOL POS. HT. WT. CL. HOMETOWN KEY STATS
Bruce Carter, Murray State G 6'4 200 Jr. Detroit, Mich. 12.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.0 spg
Fernandez Lockett, Austin Peay F 6'5 210 Jr. Madison, Ala. 11.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 49.4 FG%
**Clarence Matthews, Tennessee State F 6'7 250 Sr. Beaumont, Texas 12.7 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 1.2 bpg, 46.5 FG%
Amadi McKenzie, Tennessee Tech F 6'7 225 Jr. Atlanta, Ga. 14.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 60.5 FG%
Mike Rose, Eastern Kentucky G 6'3 185 So. Chicago, Ill. 15.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.6 spg, 76 3-pointers

ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM

NAME, SCHOOL POS. HT. WT. CL. HOMETOWN
Bruce Carter, Murray State G 6'4 200 Jr. Detroit, Mich. 12.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.0 spg
Brandon Foust, Southeast Missouri F 6'6 215 Jr. Columbus, Ohio 12.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.6 apg, 49.4 FG%
Adam Leonard, Eastern Kentucky G 6'0 185 Fr. Lee's Summit, Mo. 12.5 ppg, 2.6 apg, 92 3-pointers
Romain Martin, Eastern Illinois G 6'3 180 Fr. Minneapolis, Minn. 14.8 ppg, 42.4 FG%, 68 3-pointers
Gerald Robinson, UT Martin F 6'9 230 Jr. Los Angeles, Calif. 12.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 42.3 FG%

* - All-OVC 1st Team in 2005-06
** - All-OVC 2nd Team in 2005-06
# - All-Newcomer Team in 2005-06