BEN STRONG NAMED GUILFORD STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Greensboro, N.C. — Men’s basketball senior Ben Strong (Chapel Hill, N.C./Chapel Hill) won Guilford College’s Student-Athlete of the Week Award for the seventh time this season Monday. The weekly prize is awarded by Guilford’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
Ben Strong
Strong, a 6-11, 220-pound center, shot 66 percent from the floor and averaged 27.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 blocked shots per game in the Quakers’ 3-0 week. He totalled 38 points, a game-high 11 rebounds and three assists in Guilford’s 85-80 win at Bridgewater College Jan. 26. He made 16-of-21 field goals in his fourth 30-point game of the season. Strong followed less than 24 hours later with a 29-point, 12-rebound, two-assist performance in a 103-75 win over Eastern Mennonite. He has 35 double-doubles one his career (12 this year), and has moved into seventh place on Guilford’s scoring (1,900) and rebounds (793) lists.

Strong stands among the NCAA Division III leaders in points (fourth) and rebounds (ninth) per game through games of Jan. 20. He leads the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) in scoring (25.4 ppg.), rebounding (11.1 rpg.) and blocked shots (2.44 bpg.). Strong has paced Guilford’s scorers 14 times and has been the team’s top rebounder 12 times.

Coach Tom Palombo’s Quakers (12-4, 7-2 ODAC) have won eight of their last 10 games and play two ODAC road games this week. On Saturday (2/1), Guilford travels to nationally ranked Randolph-Macon College, the only team to beat the Quakers in Ragan-Brown Field House this season. The following afternoon Guilford visits Virginia Wesleyan College, who lost to the Quakers for the first time in eight games Jan. 13 in Greensboro. All three teams start the week atop the ODAC standings along with Roanoke College.

The Student-Athlete of the Week Award is presented by Guilford’s SAAC, which is comprised of representatives from each of the school’s 16 varsity teams. The group meets regularly to discuss the state of Guilford Athletics and seeks to build community among the school’s student-athletes and non-student-athletes. Recent Guilford SAAC activities include canned-food drives, volunteer assistance with the North Carolina Special Olympics and tutoring at New Garden Friends School.