College Men’s Basketball Final: Virginia Wesleyan 64, #16 Guilford 57

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Daniel Spencer came off the bench to score a game-high 15 points as Virginia Wesleyan University won at Guilford College, 64-57, on Saturday afternoon.

Spencer shot 6-of-11 from the field, made two three-pointers and added six rebounds for the visitors.

The Quakers, ranked 16th in the most recent D3hoops.com national poll, had its eight-game winning streak halted and fell to 8-2 and 2-1 in the 2-1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC). The Marlins improved to 7-1 and 2-0 in league play.

VWU held Guilford to a season-low 32-percent (19-59) shooting while hitting 24-of-55 field goals (24-55). The Marlins made 8-of-26 three-pointers to GC’s 2-of-18.

In the first half, Guilford’s Jorden Davis made two free throws with 8:03 left in the period to give the home team a 15-14 edge. Spencer responded a minute later with two from the charity stripe and the visitors retook the lead. Spencer’s layup with time expiring in the half gave Virginia Wesleyan a 35-27 lead at the break.

GC opened the final half with a 9-0 run and Joah Logan’s jumper put his team ahead, 36-35, with 16:35 left in regulation. Kevin Nicholson’s layup on the next possession gave VWU the lead. The
Quakers final lead came after senior Kyler Gregory converted two free throws with 8:03 left to push the score to 45-44. Yet VWU went on a 14-2 scoring run and held its largest lead, 58-47, after Jordan Crump made a short jumper with 3:29 on the clock. Guilford cut the margin to seven points twice, including the final score, the rest of the way.

Gregory netted a team-best 12 points for the Quakers. He was 3-of-13 shooting, made 6-of-8 free throws and grabbed nine rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Davis contributed 11 points and was 7-of-10 from the charity stripe. Liam Ward, a sophomore, notched a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. GC won the battle of the boards, 44-35.

Corey Pelham contributed 12 points and made two from beyond the arc for Virginia Wesleyan. Teammate Tyree Gollston added 10 points and five rebounds.

The Quakers are off until Dec. 29 when they travel to Atlanta for the Emory Holiday Classic. Guilford plays LaGrange at 2 p.m. to open the two-day tournament.

Photos by Andy Gore
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