College Athletics News – Guilford’s Gabriel Lowder Lands Weekly Basketball Honors

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Senior Gabriel Lowder (Yadkinville, N.C./North Forsyth) earned the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s (ODAC) Men’s Basketball Player of the Week Award Monday, the first of his career. He was also named Guilford College Student-Athlete of the Week for the second time this season. The Guilford prize is presented weekly by the school’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

Gabriel Lowder, Guilford 2012

Lowder, a 6-1, 185-pound guard, scored a career-, game- and league-high 36 points in the Quakers’ Feb. 1 win over visiting league-rival Roanoke College. He made a school-record 10-of-11 three-pointers in Guilford’s only game of the week. Lowder missed the league record for threes in a game by one and made his first nine shots from long range. Only two other NCAA Division III men’s basketball students have made more threes in a game as of Feb. 2. He shot 12-for-17 overall and also had four rebounds and two steals in the contest. Lowder broke the former school standard of nine, shared by former Guilford greats Clay Henson ’10 and Jordan Snipes ’07. His 90.9% three-point shooting percentage in the game is tops among Quakers who have made at least seven threes in a game and third-best in Division III this season.

Lowder ranks 13th in the ODAC and second on the team in scoring (13.3 ppg.). He makes 80 percent of his free throws and 44 percent of his three-point shots, which both rank third in the league. His 2.4 three-pointers per game is the ODAC’s third-best figure and ranks 92nd in NCAA Division III through games of Feb. 2.

Coach Tom Palombo’s team (15-6, 9-3 ODAC) entertains league-rival Washington and Lee University Wednesday (2/8) at 7:00 p.m. before visiting Randolph College Saturday (1/11) at 2:00 p.m. The Quakers have won seven of their last eight games.

The Student-Athlete of the Week Award is presented by Guilford’s SAAC, which is comprised of representatives from each of the school’s 20 varsity teams. The group meets regularly to discuss the state of Guilford Athletics and seeks to build community among Guilford’s student-athletes and non-student-athletes. Recent Guilford SAAC activities include a cancer awareness promotions, canned-food drives, volunteer assistance with the North Carolina Special Olympics and tutoring at New Garden Friends School.