Guilford College Men’s Basketball Final – 78, Hampden-Sydney 71

Hampden-Sydney, Va. – Senior center Ben Strong (Chapel Hill, N.C./Chapel Hill) scored a game-high 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in visiting Guilford College’s 78-71 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) basketball win at Hampden-Sydney College Wednesday night.

The Quakers (17-4, 12-2 ODAC), ranked 15th in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, improved their season-long winning streak to nine games. Guilford swept the season series from the Tigers (11-10, 5-9 ODAC) for the second straight year.

Strong moved into second place on Guilford’s career scoring list with 2,033 points. He passed former NBA star World B. Free ’76 and David Smith ’72 Wednesday night. Former NBA player Bob Kauffman ’68 holds the school scoring record with 2,570 points.

The 6-11 Strong scored 20 first-half points, which helped the Quakers build a 45-36 halftime advantage. Sophomore Tyler Sanborn (Elkin, N.C./Elkin), a 6-10 center, tallied nine of his 13 points in the opening frame as the Quakers made 51.6 percent of their first-half shots. Sanborn shot six-of-eight from the floor.

Sophomore guard Turner King (Roanoke, Va./Roanoke Catholic) scored 12 of his team-high 16 points in the second half. He drew Hampden-Sydney to within 53-52 with 13:26 left in regulation with a traditional three-point play.

Senior Ray Edmond (Winston-Salem, N.C./North Forsyth) scored all four of his points during a 9-2 Guilford burst that bumped the lead back to eight, but the Tigers fought back to within 64-61 when Jiri Laakso (Oulu, Finland/Makelanrinne) made one of two free throws with 7:56 left. The Quakers reeled off the next seven points and regained a 10-point lead that the Tigers trimmed to five points in the final minute. Guilford sealed the win by making five of six free throws in the last 35 seconds.

Rookie point guard T.C. Anderson (Morrisville, N.C./Green Hope) scored a career-high 10 points off the bench for Guilford. The Quakers, who started the week leading NCAA Division III in rebounding margin and field-goal percentage defense, enjoyed a 40-32 edge on the glass and held the Tigers to 42.4 percent shooting from the floor.

Drew Prehmus (Atlanta, Ga./Wesleyan School) scored 13 points and dished out five assists for Hampden-Sydney. Junior guard Byron Lawton (High Point, N.C./Wesleyan Academy) added 11 points and five assists.

Guilford hosts Bridgewater College Saturday (2/16) at 3:00 p.m. in the Ragan-Brown Field House. Hampden-Sydney visits Roanoke College Saturday at 2:00 p.m.