GREENSBORO, N.C. – Marcus Curry’s driving layup with 35 seconds left in regulation gave Guilford College a 64-63 upset basketball win over 15th-ranked Randolph-Macon College Saturday. The victory marked the Quakers’ second over a ranked Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) foe in a month and their seventh straight triumph this year.
Guilford (10-4, 4-1 ODAC) held Randolph-Macon (13-2, 5-1 ODAC) scoreless after Buzz Anthony’s layup in traffic gave the guests a 63-60 lead with 3:11 left in regulation. Jaylen Gore’s mid-range jumper at the other end got the Quakers back to within 63-62. Neither team scored for the next two minutes before Curry drove the baseline and muscled his way up close to the goal for the go-ahead score.
The Yellow Jackets took a timeout with 27 seconds left to set up a final play. The Quakers had a foul to give and took it with 14 seconds remaining, which seemed to take Randolph-Macon out of rhythm. After inbounding the ball from the side court the Yellow Jackets failed to take a shot as the final horn sounded.
“We played really tough and really physical and basically made one more play than they did,” Guilford coach Tom Palombo said afterward. “We had a defensive play at the end of the game. They didn’t get a shot off and that was it. If they score right there, we’re having a different conversation. I’m proud of our guys and the way they came back.”
Randolph-Macon, ranked 15th in the current D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, got 15 first-half points off the bench from freshman Ian Robertson and opened a 39-26 halftime lead. The margin was as high as 15 before Guilford’s Gore scored the first half’s final basket. The first of Robertson’s three three-pointers gave the Yellow Jackets a 10-8 lead and sparked a 20-6 first-half run that featured 13 Robertson points.
Two Terry Woods’s free throws gave Randolph-Macon a 44-32 edge with 17:14 left in the second half before Guilford mounted a 13-0 run over the next five-and-a-half minutes to regain the lead. Will Leckonby’s three-pointer with 11:58 left capped the spurt and gave Guilford a 48-47 advantage. The game stayed a one-possession affair for most of the duration.
Guilford’s Kyler Gregory notched his team-leading fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds, both game highs. He scored 11 first-half points and shot eight-of-11 from the foul line. Gore finished with 14 points, 10 in the second half, and also had five rebounds and three assists. Curry tallied 11 points off the bench, nine in the second half. The Quakers held a 34-23 rebounding edge and outscored Randolph-Macon, 13-2, in second-chance points.
Buzz Anthony paced the Yellow Jackets with 16 points, but only four in the second half. He also had five boards and a game-high five assists. Robertson’s 15 points matched his career high, but the rookie did not score in the second half. Randolph-Macon’s Luke Neeley chipped in eight points off the bench.
Coach Tom Palombo’s Quakers started their winning streak with a December 5 win over the 22nd-ranked University of Lynchburg. They go for their eighth-straight win Wednesday versus visiting league-rival Roanoke College at 7:30 p.m.
Photos by Andy Gore
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