Samford establishes itself as contender among men, women

There was apparently a good reason why Murray State men's basketball coach Mick Cronin picked Samford to win the Ohio Valley Conference championship.

The Bulldogs first validated Cronin's belief in them by beating the OVC preseason favorite Racers 61-50 on Dec. 21 in Birmingham, Ala.

Then Monday night, the Bulldogs emphatically stamped themselves as prime contenders by romping 68-43 at defending regular-season OVC champion Tennessee Tech.

"I think after last night's score, now everybody knows how we got beat at Samford," Cronin said during Tuesday's OVC coaches teleconference. "I've been asked that question a million times. I'm the one that voted them first in the league."

Samford's wins over Murray State and Tennessee Tech have at least for right now wiped out the belief of some OVC observers that -- based on early results -- the Racers and Eagles would dominate the league.

"You just don't go into Tennessee Tech and win by 25 points," Southeast Missouri State coach Gary Garner said. "They may have had a bad night, but for them to go into there and win by 25, it says a lot about Samford. I think you have to throw them in there now."

Samford, a third-year OVC member, posted the program's first win at Tennessee Tech, holding the Eagles to their lowest offensive output of the season.

The loss ended Tech's 18-game home winning streak, which had been the nation's fifth-longest active run.

"We had a good second half, shot it well," said Samford coach Jimmy Tillette, whose squad was picked fourth in the OVC preseason poll and received that one first-place vote from Cronin (coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team). "Tennessee Tech, who will be fine, trust me, just did not have a good second half."

Samford led just 24-22 at halftime, but shot 68.4 percent in the second half and pulled away for the rout.

And now, despite most of the teams being only one-fourth or one-fifth into the expanded 20-game conference schedule, every squad already has at least one loss.

Tennessee Tech (8-4, 3-1), Samford (7-4, 3-1), Murray State (6-4, 3-1) and Jacksonville State (5-5, 3-1) all are tied for first place.

Tennessee State (3-6, 2-1) is fifth, followed by Tennessee-Martin (6-5, 3-2), Austin Peay (7-5, 2-2), Eastern Kentucky (5-7, 2-3), Southeast Missouri (5-7, 2-4), Eastern Illinois (2-8, 1-3) and Morehead State (1-10, 0-5).

"It's still so early in the conference run," Jacksonville State coach Mike LaPlante said. "I think what it shows is that the league is very, very even, which will make for a great race, I think."

Price out for season

Tennessee State junior guard Bruce Price will miss the remainder of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a 74-65 loss at nationally ranked Ohio State on Dec. 23.

Price, a three-year starter who recently went over the 1,000-point mark for his career, was leading the Tigers in scoring with 19.3 points per game and assists with 5.8 per game.

Price also led the Tigers in scoring last year with a 13.7 average.

"It was a devastating blow to lose Bruce. To lose a guy like that, it's tough," Tennessee State coach Cy Alexander said. "Everybody has got to do more because in essence we've lost our best player."

In the days following Price's injury, Alexander told the Tennessean newspaper, "I'm disappointed for Bruce, more than anything else. He was showing a lot of maturity and leadership, he was our leading perimeter defender, he'd been voted one of our captains.

"But I think he's in pretty good spirits. It's just a slight tear, and everything else in the knee is structurally sound. ... He should be ready to go in April or May."

While the Tigers will be without Price, they have been bolstered by the addition of Oklahoma transfer Larry Turner, who became eligible for the second semester.

Turner, a 6-foot-11, 240-pound center, has played in five games, with three starts. He is averaging 6.4 points and 7.2 rebounds.

"Larry Turner, we think is potentially the best post player in the OVC," Alexander said. "He just has to dust off some of the rust."

Schlader misses game

For the first time since the 2003-04 season, Austin Peay played without Zac Schlader.

The 6-foot-9 senior center, who had started 43 straight games for the Governors, did not play against Tennessee-Martin on Monday night because of a lingering bacterial infection he suffered Dec. 17 against East Tennessee State.

While acknowledging Schlader's importance to his team, Austin Peay coach Dave Loos did not want to blame Schlader's absence on the Govs' 84-75 loss to the Skyhawks.

"Injuries are a part of this," Loos said. "Very rarely do you go through a season without losing an important player, so you have to play around that."

Schlader, a preseason second team all-OVC selection, is the Govs' second-leading scorer and top rebounder, with averages of 13.8 points and 5.8 rebounds.

Last year Schlader averaged 12.7 points and a team-leading 6.8 rebounds.

Loos said Schlader will be re-evaluated today to determine whether he can play Thursday night against Jacksonville State.

Women's surprise

Samford's women, picked fifth in the preseason poll, have joined the Bulldogs' men in already beating two of the OVC's expected top teams.

The Bulldogs, after earlier knocking off preseason No. 2 Southeast Missouri State at home, rallied for a 59-57 win at preseason No. 1 Tennessee Tech on Monday night.

Samford outscored Tennessee Tech 13-4 over the final four minutes and prevailed on Cora Beth Smith's 17-foot jumper with two seconds left.

The Bulldogs (9-2, 4-0), getting the program's first win over the Eaglettes in five tries, took over sole possession of first place in the OVC.

Tennessee Tech (7-4, 3-1) and Eastern Illinois (4-7, 3-1) are tied for second, with Morehead State (7-3, 2-1) fourth.

Southeast Missouri (6-6, 3-2) and Eastern Kentucky (3-9, 3-2) are tied for fifth, followed by Murray State (3-9, 2-3), Tennessee-Martin (3-7, 1-2), Austin Peay (4-7, 1-3), Tennessee State (0-9, 0-3) and Jacksonville State (2-9, 0-4).