College Men’s Basketball News – Guilford Ranked in D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College’s men’s basketball team returned to the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll for the first time this year in the 23rd position. The Quakers are off to a 7-0 start (3-0 Old Dominion Athletic Conference) for the first time since 2006 and were one of NCAA Division III’s 18 unbeaten men’s teams through games of Dec. 8.

The D3hoops.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly.

Guilford was most recently ranked in the D3hoops.com national poll last January after the Quakers won 13 of their first 15 contests.

This year’s club has relied on solid free-throw shooting and defense, as well as individual contributions from many first-year players. Guilford stands 14th among this week’s Division III leaders with a .792 team free-throw percentage and is 18th nationally in field-goal percentage defense (.376). Junior guard Matt McCarthy (Rockville, Md./Good Counsel) has made each of his 20 free throws this year and tops Guilford’s offense with 17.1 points per game. He shoots over 39 percent from three-point range and ranks third in the ODAC with 2.86 threes per game. Forward Jake Hopkins (Kernersville, N.C./East Forsyth), Guilford’s lone senior, scores 12.6 points per game and leads the Quakers in rebounds (8.1 rpg.) and field-goal shooting (.583).

Guilford’s rookies have accounted for nearly 47 percent of Guilford’s offense this season, scoring 261 of the team’s 560 points through seven games. Forward Alston Furr (King, N.C./West Stokes) is the Quakers’ third-leading scorer (11.7 ppg.), tops among freshmen, and classmate Trever Hyatt (Connelly Springs, N.C./East Burke) contributes 10.9 points per game. Furr and freshman point guard Josh Spainhour (King, N.C./West Stokes) have both started all seven games of their college career and fellow newcomer Robbie Stokely (Wilson, N.C./Greenfield School) has started six games. Hyatt and fellow rookie Zach Houston (Hickory, N.C./St. Stephen’s) (3.6 ppg., 5.4 rpg.) are among the first Quakers off the bench.

Coach Tom Palombo’s club plays its final home game of the semester Saturday (12/14) against Methodist University at 3:00 p.m.

Complete Poll – http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/index