College Men’s Basketball Final – Birmingham Southern 72, #17 Guilford 56

ASHLAND, Va. – Larry Thomas scored a game-high 23 points in Birmingham Southern College’s 72-56 basketball win over Guilford College Sunday at the Coaches Classic, hosted by Randolph-Macon College.

The Panthers (7-2) dealt the Quakers (9-2), ranked 17th in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, their second loss in as many days.

With the halftime score tied at 33-33, Schylar Freeman scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half by making all five shots from the floor. He helped the Panthers shoot over 57 percent in the period, during which time Guilford shot 23.1 percent.

Thomas made all six first-half shots, including three three-pointers, en route to 16 first-half points. His fourth and final three-pointer capped an 8-0 Panthers’ run that opened a 41-33 lead early in the second half. Trever Hyatt’s three-pointer pulled Guilford to within 41-37 with 14:47 remaining, but the Quakers made just one of their next nine shots, during which time Birmingham Southern’s lead grew to 16.

Rookie Alston Furr shot four-for-six from three-point range and scored a team-high 15 points for Guilford. Teammate Matt McCarthy chipped in with 10 points and Zeb Richardson added seven points and 11 rebounds.

Guilford returns home to host Messiah College Saturday (Jan. 4) at 3:00 p.m.

Birmingham Southern vs Guilford
12/29/13 1:00 p.m. at Ashland, VA – Crenshaw Gym
At Ashland, VA – Crenshaw Gym

BIRMINGHAM SOUTHERN – 72
GUILFORD – 56

BIRMINGHAM SOUTHERN (7-2): Larry Thomas 9-13 1-2 23; Ross Welch 4-8 0-2 12; Schylar Freeman 6-11 0-0 12; Jason Holland 2-2 0-1 6; Ander Galfsky 1-3 4-5 6; Ian Thom 1-2 2-2 4; Evan Lewis 0-4 3-4 3; Colin Henry 0-4 3-4 3; Alex Avery 1-4 0-0 3; Griffin Schamp 0-2 0-0 0; Conner Hayes 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-55 13-20 72.

GUILFORD (9-2): FURR, Alston 4-7 3-4 15; McCARTHY, Matt 4-10 0-0 10; RICHARDSON, Zeb 2-5 3-6 7; HYATT, Trever 2-9 2-3 7; SPAINHOUR, Josh 2-7 0-0 5; STOKELY, Robbie 2-4 0-0 4; HOPKINS, Jake 1-9 2-2 4; KOPPENHAVER, Will 1-2 0-0 2; BYRD, Michael 0-2 1-2 1; HOUSTON, Zachary 0-1 1-2 1; GREENE, Cole 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-56 12-19 56.

   Birmingham Southern...........   33   39  -   72
   Guilford......................   33   23  -   56

3-point goals–Birmingham Southern 11-24 (Larry Thomas 4-6; Ross Welch 4-6; Jason Holland 2-2; Alex Avery 1-2; Evan Lewis 0-2; Colin Henry 0-2; Conner Hayes 0-2; Ian Thom 0-1; Ander Galfsky 0-1), Guilford 8-23 (FURR, Alston 4-6; McCARTHY, Matt 2-7; HYATT, Trever 1-4; SPAINHOUR, Josh 1-3; HOPKINS, Jake 0-3).
Fouled out–Birmingham Southern-None, Guilford-None.
Rebounds–Birmingham Southern 33 (Larry Thomas 11), Guilford 39 (RICHARDSON, Zeb 11).
Assists–Birmingham Southern 16 (Jason Holland 4), Guilford 9 (McCARTHY, Matt 3; HOUSTON, Zachary 3).
Total fouls–Birmingham Southern 15, Guilford 15.
Technical fouls–Birmingham Southern-None, Guilford-None.
A-200

Coaches Classic at Randolph-Macon College