GREENSBORO, N.C. –Rookies Alston Furr (King, N.C./West Stokes) and Josh Spainhour (King, N.C./West Stokes) both scored a career-high 20 points to help Guilford College to a 94-91 men’s basketball win over visiting Averett University Wednesday night.
Despite playing their second game in as many nights and their fourth in six days, the Quakers (4-0) prevailed down the stretch despite running into foul trouble. The visiting Cougars (0-1), coached by former Guilford assistant Matt Parke, gave Guilford all it could handle. Averett trimmed double-digit deficits down to three or less in both halves.
Guilford opened a 65-51 lead with 13:23 left on a Jake Hopkins (Kernersville, N.C./East Forsyth) jumper, but Averett reeled off 13 of the next 16 points. Bradley Robinson’s three-pointer with 8:33 remaining brought the Cougars to within 68-64. The teams traded possessions before Furr drove the lane and completed a traditional three-point play. Behind Paul Porter’s (Roanoke, Va./Patrick Henry) free-throw shooting and Trevor West’s (Raleigh, N.C./Neuse Christian Academy) timely hoops, Averett stayed close. The Cougars pulled to within four points four separate times down the stretch, but each time either Furr or Spainhour answered at the other end for Guilford.
Furr and Spainhour, high school classmates, combined for 27 of their 40 points in the second half on nine-of-12 field-goal shooting and nine-for-nine free-throw shooting. Furr, a lanky 6-4 forward, aggressively drove the lane and swooped in for close baskets. Spainhour, a six-foot point guard, delivered clutch fall-away jumpers around the lane after shaking off his defenders.
Cody Stephens’ layup with 44 seconds remaining made it an 87-84 game, but Spainhour drained two free throws at the other end and Guilford iced the game by making seven-of-eight free throws in the final minute.
Guilford put five students in double-figure scoring, including Hopkins, who finished with 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Trever Hyatt added 12 off the bench, all in the first half, and Matt McCarthy finished with 12, all in the second half. The Quakers shot 53.1% from the floor, 58.6% in the second half.
Averett’s West led all scorers with 22 points and Porter finished with 19, thanks to 13-of-17 free-throw shooting. The Cougars owned a 48-38 rebounding edge, thanks in large part to 21 offensive rebounds that led to 17 second-chance points. Porter had 11 boards and Charles Bryant added nine, plus eight points, off the bench. Averett shot just 30-of-48 from the free-throw line.
Guilford hosts Washington and Lee University Saturday (11/23) at 3:00 p.m. in both teams’ Old Dominion Athletic Conference opener.
Averett vs Guilford
11/20/13 7:00 p.m. at Greensboro, NC – Ragan-Brown Field House
At Greensboro, NC – Ragan-Brown Field House
GUILFORD 94
AVERETT 91
AVERETT (0-1): Trevor West 7-16 4-7 22; Paul Porter 3-7 13-17 19; Cody Stephens 5-10 4-6 14; Carter Jones 4-6 4-9 12; Bradley Robinson 3-10 1-2 8; Charles Bryant 3-10 2-4 8; Jacolby Hawkins 2-6 2-2 6; Darnell Collins 1-1 0-1 2; Melvin Garrison 0-0 0-0 0; Devontae Pannell 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-67 30-48 91.
GUILFORD (4-0): FURR, Alston 6-11 7-7 20; SPAINHOUR, Josh 7-13 4-6 20; HOPKINS, Jake 5-7 3-7 13; HYATT, Trever 5-7 0-1 12; McCARTHY, Matt 3-10 4-4 12; RICHARDSON, Zeb 4-8 0-0 8; HOUSTON, Zachary 3-4 0-1 7; KOPPENHAVER, Will 1-1 0-0 2; STOKELY, Robbie 0-2 0-0 0; GREENE, Cole 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-64 18-26 94.
Averett....................... 38 53 - 91 Guilford...................... 42 52 - 94
3-point goals – Averett 5-12 (Trevor West 4-5; Bradley Robinson 1-4; Cody Stephens 0-2; Jacolby Hawkins 0-1), Guilford 8-18 (HYATT, Trever 2-4; SPAINHOUR, Josh 2-4; McCARTHY, Matt 2-5; FURR, Alston 1-2; HOUSTON, Zachary 1-2; HOPKINS, Jake 0-1).
Fouled out – Averett-Jacolby Hawkins, Guilford-HYATT, Trever.
Rebounds – Averett 46 (Paul Porter 11), Guilford 38 (HOPKINS, Jake 7).
Assists – Averett 11 (Trevor West 4), Guilford 14 (SPAINHOUR, Josh 4).
Total fouls – Averett 23, Guilford 29.
Technical fouls – Averett-None, Guilford-None.
A – 275
Nonconference game