Nov. 12, 2011

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team was outscored 47-37 in the second half of play Saturday in a 76-69 season-opening loss against the Youngtown State Penguins held at the Pete Hanna Center. The Bulldogs led 32-29 at the half before Youngstown State (1-0) rallied late to capitalize on a career-high 28-point performance from sophomore Kendrick Perry.

"This was the beginning of a process," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "Offensively, we're doing a lot of different things and defensively we're doing a lot of new things, so we need to get better and it's going to take us time. We have to work at it and I thought they were more physical than us. They also had 22 points off turnovers and we only had four. Starting tomorrow, we need to work to get better."

For the second straight season, Samford (0-1) lost its opener to Youngstown State. Last year, the Bulldogs dropped a hard-fought 64-61 decision against the Penguins in Youngstown, Ohio.

Samford was led in scoring Saturday by true freshman Raijon Kelly. The Bulldogs' agile native of St. Paul, Minn., paced the team with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, including a team-high four 3-point baskets. Kelly also tallied a game-high five assists and added three rebounds in 28 minutes of game action.

"Raijon is a very good player," Tillette said. "He really understands how to play the game and he really has a feel on both ends of the floor. The older guys started the guys very inconsistently and we need to get off to a better start in games, especially when we're playing at home."

Following a breakaway dunk by Damian Eargle at 10:45 in the first half, Youngstown State held a 19-9 advantage in the game. Samford then used six quick points from Tyler Hood and back-to-back 3-point baskets from seniors Jeffrey Merritt and Kaylin Johnson to tie the score at 21-21 with just over seven minutes remaining in the half.

To close out the first period, Samford used a hook shot in the paint from Matthew Friday and a driving layup from Merritt to take a 32-29 advantage into the locker room.

Merritt, the Bulldogs' athletic guard from Oklahoma City, Okla., tallied his second straight double-double against Youngstown State. Last season, he finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while he totaled 11 points and 10 rebounds Friday.

Youngstown State finished the season-opening contest with four players in double figures. Perry exploded for a career-high 28 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field, while Eargle followed with 17 and Blake Allen and Ashen Ward scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Perry, a sophomore guard from Ocoee, Fla., played 38 minutes and knocked down 4-of-7 3-point attempts, 6-of-8 free throws and pulled down three rebounds. He also finished the game with team-highs in assists (4) and steals (4).

"Perry's a very good player and we knew that coming in," said Tillette. "We had trouble guarding him, and then they knocked down four 3-point baskets on second shots after getting an offensive rebound. That really hurt us."

Samford out-rebounded Youngstown State 37-34, but the Penguins tallied two more offensive boards than the Bulldogs. Youngstown State also registered 15 second-chance points, as compared to 11 for Samford. The Bulldogs finished with 29 points off the bench, while the Penguins' Josh Chojnacki knocked down a turnaround jumper for their only reserve scoring of the night.

Following Kelly's team-high 18 points and Merritt's 11, Samford was boosted by Will Cook's 10 points and five rebounds, as well as Devin McNeil's eight points and six boards. Senior John Peterson added seven points and three rebounds in 15 minutes of playing time.

Samford led by as many as five points early in the second half, but Youngstown State used a 17-4 run late in the period to garner an insurmountable 64-52 advantage with 2:47 left to play.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Friday at 6 p.m. (CST) as they travel to Jacksonville, Fla., for a key early-season contest against the Jacksonville Dolphins.