Nov. 7, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team held its annual Blue-White Scrimmage on Saturday in the Pete Hanna Center. The White team earned a decisive 63-45 victory behind the balanced scoring attack of Josh Bedwell, Jeffrey Merritt and Andy King.

The scrimmage was the Bulldogs' first game-simulated action of the 2009-10 season and was open to the general public.

"I thought that we looked good today," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We have a lot of veteran guys on the team, so we split up the freshmen and there wasn't one team that had all of the veterans. I thought they did a good job of coaching the freshmen through the action and it was a very competitive scrimmage. I'm pleased with our progress, but we still have a long way to go."

During the competition, the Blue and White squads played for approximately an hour and split the time into three 15-minute games.

Montgomery, Samford's explosive 6-foot-4 guard from Destrehan, La., led all scorers with 24 points. The Bulldogs' three-year starter at point guard also tallied five rebounds, four assists and three steals. In a losing effort, Montgomery was the only player on the Blue squad to score in double figures.

"Trey did an outstanding job and he definitely has the capability to take over a game," Tillette said. "He's been one of our best leaders so far this season and he's typically our most energetic player in practice. I've been really pleased with how he's played season."

The White team jumped out to a large lead in the first session behind the early play of Merritt, the Bulldogs' talented 6-foot-6 sophomore. Samford's forward from Oklahoma City, Okla., scored all 11 of his points in the first two periods of play. Merritt also finished the scrimmage with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Juniors Bedwell and King also played key roles in leading the White team to its decisive victory. Bedwell proved to be one of the best rebounders in the scrimmage as Samford's athletic native of Hartselle, Ala., finished the competition with 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists. King was also a factor all over the court as he tallied 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.

"I thought we accomplished a lot in the scrimmage," Tillette said. "When we stayed within our system, we were successful, but we also had some bad plays that ended up on the negative side of the ledger. On the positive side, I thought Bryan Friday, Jeffrey Merritt, Josh Bedwell and Andy King played well today."

Bryan Friday, who was forced to play the P position for a majority of Saturday's scrimmage, overcame a slow start to tally 12 points. The Bulldogs' senior forward from Grapevine, Texas, also added four rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.

Sophomore forward John Peterson was on the receiving end of most of Friday's four assists and ended the competition with 11 points. Samford's highly-touted native of Boca Raton, Fla., also added four rebounds and three assists of his own.

Down the stretch, the White team was able to hold off a late Blue rally and held on for a lopsided 63-45 victory.

"I think that our learning curve is pretty steep at this point, but our guys have done a good job of internalizing what we want to get done," said Tillette. "Obviously, we still have a lot of things that we need to clean up, but in terms of the general idea of what we want to do on offense, I thought that today was good."

Junior forward Josh Davis finished with 10 points, four rebounds and an assist Saturday, while true freshman Drew Windler added eight points, an assist, a block and a steal.

Rounding out the scoring in the 2009 Blue-White Scrimmage were guards Kaylin Johnson and Gregg Wooten. Johnson, a sophomore from Baton Rouge, La., finished with six points, two rebounds and a pair of assists, while Wooten added five points, two steals and a block. Wooten is the Bulldogs' true freshman standout from Memphis, Tenn.

The Samford University basketball team will begin its 2009-10 regular-season schedule on Nov. 13, as the Bulldogs square off against the Kent State Golden Flashes at 6 p.m. (CST). The matchup will be a part of the 2009 Hispanic College Fund Classic being held in Kent, Ohio.