Guilford Men’s Basketball Final – Guilford 67, Roanoke 57

Salem, Va. — Ben Strong (Chapel Hill, N.C./Chapel Hill) scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in top-seeded Guilford College’s 67-57 win over number-four Roanoke College Saturday night in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament semifinals at the Salem Civic Center.

The Quakers (23-4) advance to their first ODAC Tournament final against the winner of Saturday night’s second semifinal between second-seeded Virginia Wesleyan College and number-six Hampden-Sydney College. Ranked 12th in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, Guilford has won 15 straight games, the team’s longest streak since the 1969-70 club won 29 in a row. Roanoke’s season ends with an 18-9 record.

“It feels great to be the first to make it to the finals,” Strong said, “but we’d like to win it tomorrow.”

The tightly played game featured eight ties, including a 26-26 deadlock at halftime. The teams were knotted at 40 midway through the second half before Guilford got some breathing room with a Caleb Kimbrough (Carrboro, N.C./Chapel Hill) three-pointer followed by a Clay Henson (Glen Alpine, N.C./Freedom) basket that opened a 50-44 spread with 7:07 remaining in regulation.

Consecutive baskets by Curtis Peery (Salem, Va./Salem) kept Roanoke within 52-48 with 5:50 left before a 6-0 Guilford spurt opened a 58-48 margin with 3:40 to play. Marvin Felix’s (Caguas, Puerto Rico/Salem) three-pointer with 1:53 left made it a 60-53 game, but the Maroons missed four shots and turned the ball over once over its next four possessions. Guilford built its lead to 14 by making six-of-seven free throws in the final minute.

The Quakers started the week ranked first in NCAA Division III in rebounding margin and enjoyed a 51-31 advantage on the glass against the Maroons. Guilford grabbed 16 offensive caroms, leading to 19 points. Roanoke’s nine offensive boards resulted in six points. The Quakers outscored Roanoke in the paint, 40-16, thanks in part to Strong, the ODAC’s Player of the Year, who logged his 20th double-double of the season. Classmate Eric Belkoski (Rockingham, N.C./Richmond Senior) scored eight of his 13 points in the second half and had nine rebounds. Kimbrough finished with 11 points, nine in the second half.

“We wanted to shut down inside and not let them get anything in the paint; not let them drive it and I thought we did a phenomenal job of that,” Guilford coach Tom Palombo said. “They had to rely on the perimeter and fortunately they missed some and we were able to get the rebound.”

Roanoke used six three pointers to stay close in the first half, but made just two-of-12 shots from beyond the arc in the second period. Felix paced the Maroons’ offense with 14 points off the bench. Peery finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. A.J. Dowell (Salem, Va./Salem) scored five points and dealt a game-best seven assists.

Roanoke vs Guilford
03/01/08 6:00 p.m. at Salem, Va. – Civic Center At Salem, Va. – Civic Center
GUILFORD 67, ROANOKE 57
ROANOKE (18-9)
FELIX, Melvin 6-10 0-0 14; PEERY, Curtis 6-15 0-0 12; SHRADER, Ben 3-7 0-0 9; DOWELL, A.J. 2-9 0-0 5; CARTER, Keith 1-5 2-2 5; LEITER, Jeff 1-3 0-0 3; TYSON, Aaron 1-3 1-2 3; SHEPPARD, William 1-1 0-0 2; MILTON, Zach 1-5 0-0 2; LaPORTE, Josh 1-6 0-0 2; SIGMON, Ty 0-1 0-0 0; CHITTOCK, Kendrick 0-1 0-0 0; CRIZER, Matt 0-0 0-0 0; GAENG, Drew 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-66 3-4 57.
GUILFORD (23-4)
STRONG, Ben 7-10 4-6 18; BELKOSKI, Eric 4-12 5-6 13; KIMBROUGH, Caleb 3-7 4-7 11; NEVILLE, George 4-6 0-0 8; HENSON, Clay 3-12 1-2 7; BONNER, Rhett 2-4 1-1 6; STEPHENSON, Martin 2-3 0-0 4; SANBORN, Tyler 0-3 0-0 0; EDMOND, Ray 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 15-22 67.

Roanoke………………….. 26 31 – 57
Guilford…………………. 26 41 – 67

3-point goals–Roanoke 8-29 (SHRADER, Ben 3-5; FELIX, Melvin 2-5; DOWELL, A.J. 1-5; LEITER, Jeff 1-3; CARTER, Keith 1-5; LaPORTE, Josh 0-2; CHITTOCK, Kendrick 0-1; MILTON, Zach 0-3), Guilford 2-17 (BONNER, Rhett 1-1; KIMBROUGH, Caleb 1-4; HENSON, Clay 0-6; EDMOND, Ray 0-1; BELKOSKI, Eric 0-5).
Fouled out–Roanoke-None, Guilford-None.
Rebounds–Roanoke 31 (PEERY, Curtis 7), Guilford 51 (STRONG, Ben 11).
Assists–Roanoke 16 (DOWELL, A.J. 7), Guilford 9 (HENSON, Clay 4).
Total fouls–Roanoke 17, Guilford 9.
Technical fouls–Roanoke-None, Guilford-None.
A-2419
Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal Guilford advances to play either Hampden-Sydney or Va. Wesleyan in Sunday’s final at 3:30 in the Salem Civic Center. Guilford is ranked 12th in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll.