College Men’s Basketball Final – #24 Guilford 85, Lynchburg 69‏

I had the opportunity to travel with the team to the game on Saturday. Great group of young men.

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Guilford College’s men’s basketball team matched its longest winning streak of the season with an 85-69 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) victory at Lynchburg College Saturday afternoon. Clay Henson (Glen Apline, N.C./Freedom) paced five Quakers in double-figure scoring with 19 points in Guilford’s sixth straight win and its 15th in 17 games.

Guilford’s Tyler Sanborn (Mount Airy, N.C./Elkin) added 18 points and a game-high 16 rebounds for the Quakers, who enjoyed a commanding 49-24 edge on the glass. Sanborn scored five points during a decisive 13-1 run that spanned both halves and opened a 50-38 Guilford lead with 17:22 left in regulation.

Mason Wooldridge’s jumper with 14:19 left capped a 9-2 Hornets’ spurt and trimmed Guilford’s lead to 54-49, but the Quakers reeled off the next eight points. Lynchburg drew no closer than nine points the rest of the game and Guilford made all eight free throws in the final 1:44.

Rhett Bonner (Yadkinville, N.C./North Forsyth (Presbyterian)) scored 15 points and George Neville (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill) added 12 for Guilford, which is ranked 24th in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll. Quakers’ sophomore Martin Stephenson (Cary, N.C./Cary) scored nine of his career-high 11 points in the second half and helped Guilford’s bench outscored its counterpart, 21-7.

Wooldridge led all scorers with 28 points on 10-of-20 shooting and added a team-best nine rebounds. Steven Echols added 18 points, five assists and six boards for Lynchburg.

Guilford visits league-rival Emory & Henry College Wednesday (2/18) at 7:00 p.m. Lynchburg visits crosstown-rival Randolph College Wednesday in a 7:00 p.m. ODAC game.

Newspaper Box Score
Guilford vs Lynchburg
02/14/09 3:00 p.m. at Lynchburg, VA – Turner Gymnasium
At Lynchburg, VA – Turner Gymnasium
GUILFORD 85, LYNCHBURG 69
GUILFORD (19-4, 12-2 ODAC)
HENSON, Clay 5-12 6-6 19; SANBORN, Tyler 8-13 2-8 18; BONNER, Rhett 3-8 6-6
15; NEVILLE, George 6-9 0-0 12; STEPHENSON, Martin 4-7 3-4 11; LOWDER,
Gabriel 2-5 0-0 6; ANDERSON, T.C. 0-0 4-4 4; MONROE, Brad 0-0 0-1 0;
STANLEY, Mat 0-0 0-0 0; HIGH, Eric 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-56 21-29 85.
LYNCHBURG (3-20, 1-13 ODAC)
WOOLDRIDGE, Mason 10-20 5-8 28; ECHOLS, Steven 6-15 2-2 18; MENDEZ, KC 5-14
0-0 10; BURGESS, Jack 3-9 0-0 6; PUFFENBARGER, Brad 1-4 0-0 3; KENNEY, Brad
1-1 0-0 2; LANGROCK, Jeff 1-1 0-0 2; SUTHERLAND, Sean 0-1 0-1 0; POWELL,
Brandon 0-0 0-0 0; REED, Danny 0-1 0-0 0; GERLUFSON, Kyle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals
27-66 7-11 69.

Guilford…………………. 41 44 – 85
Lynchburg………………… 37 32 – 69

3-point goals–Guilford 8-16 (HENSON, Clay 3-7; BONNER, Rhett 3-6; LOWDER,
Gabriel 2-3), Lynchburg 8-26 (ECHOLS, Steven 4-8; WOOLDRIDGE, Mason 3-8;
PUFFENBARGER, Brad 1-3; REED, Danny 0-1; BURGESS, Jack 0-3; MENDEZ, KC 0-3).
Fouled out–Guilford-None, Lynchburg-ECHOLS, Steven. Rebounds–Guilford 49
(SANBORN, Tyler 16), Lynchburg 24 (WOOLDRIDGE, Mason 9). Assists–Guilford
16 (BONNER, Rhett 4), Lynchburg 10 (ECHOLS, Steven 5). Total fouls–Guilford
13, Lynchburg 23. Technical fouls–Guilford-None, Lynchburg-None. A-202
Old Dominion Athletic Conference game
Guilford is ranked 24th in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll.