College Men’s Basketball Final – Guilford 75, Roanoke 71

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Sophomore center Zeb Richardson (West Jefferson, N.C./Ashe County) scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half to rally Guilford College past visiting Roanoke College, 75-71, in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference game Wednesday.

Richardson scored four points in a decisive 9-2 run, including two free throws with 4:10 remaining that broke the game’s third and final tie. After a Roanoke turnover, Richardson’s jump hook in the lane opened a 64-60 lead with 3:31 left. The basket gave Guilford its first two-possession lead of the game, which came in handy down the stretch.

Roanoke’s Julian Ramirez (10 assists, 3 steals) took the ball from Guilford’s Alston Furr (King, N.C./West Stokes) with 27 seconds left and the Maroons down three. Following a timeout, Ramirez drove the lane, but his layup failed and the Quakers’ Zachary Houston grabbed the rebound. He was quickly fouled and made both ends of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity to seal the win.

Guilford trailed for the majority of the game as the Roanoke trio of Andrew Daniels, Daniel Eacho and John Fitchett took turns making big plays on offense. Daniels scored 13 of his game-high 23 points in the first half, which staked the Maroons to a 34-32 halftime lead. Two of his game-high five three-pointers helped Roanoke gain an eight-point advantage four minutes into the period. Eacho hit 14 of his 22 points in the second half and Fitchett stroked three three-pointers on the way to 19 points off the bench.

Senior Jake Hopkins’ (Kernersville, N.C./East Forsyth) 16 points paced the Quakers, who had four players score in double figures and outscored the Maroons, 32-20, in the paint. Hopkins also tallied a career-high five steals, six rebounds and two steals. Matt McCarthy finished with 13 points three-for-13 field-goal shooting and Furr added 11. Richardson led Guilford with three blocks and eight rebounds, three off the offensive glass. The Quakers had 13 offensive rebounds and enjoyed a 17-4 edge in second-chance points. Josh Spainhour (King, N.C./West Stokes) had a clutch three-pointer among his five points, and added five rebounds, six assists and two steals.

Guilford heads to Washington and Lee University Saturday (2/8) for another ODAC game.

Roanoke vs Guilford
02/05/14 7:00 p.m. at Greensboro, NC – Ragan-Brown Field House
At Greensboro, NC – Ragan-Brown Field House

GUILFORD – 75
ROANOKE – 71

ROANOKE (9-10, 3-8 ODAC): DANIELS, Andrew 9-19 0-0 23; EACHO, Daniel 10-16 2-4 22; FITCHETT, John 7-15 2-2 19; SMITH, Cameron 2-5 0-0 4; BRADLEY, Seth 1-4 0-0 2; SCOTT, Marcus 0-2 1-2 1; HUMPHRIES, Ethan 0-1 0-0 0; RAMIREZ, Julian 0-4 0-0 0; VULEVIC, Stefan 0-3 0-0 0; WEANT, Alexander 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-69 5-8 71.

GUILFORD (15-5, 9-2 ODAC): HOPKINS, Jake 7-13 1-2 16; RICHARDSON, Zeb 6-11 3-3 15; McCARTHY, Matt 3-13 6-6 13; FURR, Alston 5-10 0-0 11; STOKELY, Robbie 4-4 1-1 9; SPAINHOUR, Josh 2-4 0-0 5; HYATT, Trever 2-11 0-0 4; HOUSTON, Zachary 0-1 2-2 2; KOPPENHAVER, Will 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-68 13-14 75.

   Roanoke.......................   34   37  -   71
   Guilford......................   32   43  -   75

3-point goals–Roanoke 8-25 (DANIELS, Andrew 5-10; FITCHETT, John 3-8; BRADLEY, Seth 0-2; HUMPHRIES, Ethan 0-1; RAMIREZ, Julian 0-2; VULEVIC, Stefan 0-2), Guilford 4-20 (McCARTHY, Matt 1-7; FURR, Alston 1-4; HOPKINS, Jake 1-2; SPAINHOUR, Josh 1-2; HOUSTON, Zachary 0-1; HYATT, Trever 0-4).
Fouled out–Roanoke-None, Guilford-None.
Rebounds–Roanoke 38 (EACHO, Daniel 7), Guilford 42 (RICHARDSON, Zeb 8).
Assists–Roanoke 23 (RAMIREZ, Julian 10), Guilford 15 (SPAINHOUR, Josh 6).
Total fouls–Roanoke 14, Guilford 13.
Technical fouls–Roanoke-None, Guilford-None.
A-375

Old Dominion Athletic Conference Game