Greensboro College Men’s Basketball Final – #15 Guilford 100, Eastern Mennonite 93

STRONG SCORES 39 IN GUILFORD WIN OVER EASTERN MENNONITE

Greensboro, N.C. — Senior center Ben Strong (Chapel Hill, N.C./Chapel Hill) matched his season high with a game-best 39 points in Guilford College’s 100-93 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) basketball win over visiting Eastern Mennonite University Sunday afternoon.

The Quakers (19-4, 14-2 ODAC), ranked 15th in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, stretched their winning streak to 11 games, Guilford’s longest since a 14-game skein in 1974-75. The victory also marked Guilford’s 14th straight over the Royals (8-15, 4-12 ODAC).

Eastern Mennonite trimmed a 17-point second-half deficit to 94-90 with 2:20 left in regulation. Rookie D.J. Hinson’s (Newport News, Va./Menchville) traditional three-point play capped a 22-13 Royals’ run over a five-and-a-half-minute stretch. Guilford’s Strong answered at the other end with his final field goal of the game, a turnaround jumper right of the basket off an Eric Belkoski (Rockingham, N.C./Richmond Senior) assist. The Royals missed three of their last four three-point shots while Guilford made four free throws in the final minute to preserve the victory.

Strong shot eight-for-eight in the second half 16-of-21 for the game. The reigning Division III Player of the Year notched his team-leading eighth 30-point game of the year, his third in four games, and the 16th 30 point-contest of his career. His shooting helped Guilford make 65.4 percent of its second-half shots (17-26) and shoot 58.7 percent for the game. Sophomore center Tyler Sanborn (Elkin, N.C./Elkin) added 13 points and seven boards as Guilford outscored the Royals, 46-26, in the paint. Sophomore guard Clay Henson (Glen Alpine, N.C./Freedom) drained a team-high three three-pointers and also scored 13 points. Belkoski netted nine of his 12 points in the first half and finished with a game- and career-high seven assists.

Hinson paced Eastern Mennonite with 24 points, including 18 in the second half. He made a club-best five-of-seven trifectas and missed just three field goals all games.. Senior forward Brad Parkes (Winchester, Va./James Wood) added three three-pointers, 23 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Senior Jered Lyons (Takoma Park, Md./St. Johns at Prospect Hall) sparked the Royals’ rally off the bench by scoring all 11 of his points in the second half, thanks in part to three three-pointers. Eastern Mennonite shot 52.5 percent from the floor (32-61) , the best shooting by a Guilford opponent this year. The Quakers started the week as the NCAA Division III leader in field-goal percentage defense (.362).

Guilford can clinch the top seed for the ODAC Tournament Wednesday (2/20) night with a win over Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. Tip-off in the Warner Center is 7:00 p.m. Eastern Mennonite hosts Randolph-Macon College Wednesday night.

Newspaper Box Score
Eastern Mennonite vs Guilford
02/17/08 3:00 p.m. at Greensboro, N.C.-Ragan-Brown Field House
At Greensboro, N.C.-Ragan-Brown Field House
GUILFORD 100, EASTERN MENNONITE 93
EASTERN MENNONITE (8-15, 4-12 ODAC)
HINSON, D.J. 8-11 3-3 24; PARKES, Brad 7-15 6-7 23; LYONS, Jered 4-9 0-0 11;
PARRISH, LeRoger 3-5 2-2 9; JOHNSON, George 3-8 1-1 9; BAILEY, Corey 4-4 1-2
9; TWINE, Austin 1-4 2-2 4; PANCIONE, Orie 2-4 0-0 4; PHILLIPS, Todd 0-1 0-0
0; HANNAH, Rashawn 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-62 15-17 93.
GUILFORD (19-4, 14-2 ODAC)
STRONG, Ben 16-21 7-12 39; SANBORN, Tyler 6-9 1-5 13; HENSON, Clay 4-8 2-2
13; BELKOSKI, Eric 4-10 2-4 12; BONNER, Rhett 2-4 3-4 8; KIMBROUGH, Caleb
2-4 2-2 7; NEVILLE, George 2-3 2-2 6; STEPHENSON, Martin 1-2 0-0 2;
ANDERSON, T.C. 0-0 0-0 0; EDMOND, Ray 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 37-62 19-31 100.
Eastern Mennonite…………. 41 52 – 93
Guilford…………………. 51 49 – 100
3-point goals–Eastern Mennonite 14-33 (HINSON, D.J. 5-7; PARKES, Brad 3-6;
LYONS, Jered 3-8; JOHNSON, George 2-7; PARRISH, LeRoger 1-3; HANNAH, Rashawn
0-1; TWINE, Austin 0-1), Guilford 7-17 (HENSON, Clay 3-6; BELKOSKI, Eric
2-4; BONNER, Rhett 1-2; KIMBROUGH, Caleb 1-3; EDMOND, Ray 0-1; STEPHENSON,
Martin 0-1). Fouled out–Eastern Mennonite-BAILEY, Corey, Guilford-None.
Rebounds–Eastern Mennonite 26 (PARKES, Brad 7), Guilford 34 (STRONG, Ben 7;
SANBORN, Tyler 7). Assists–Eastern Mennonite 19 (JOHNSON, George 6),
Guilford 20 (BELKOSKI, Eric 7). Total fouls–Eastern Mennonite 26, Guilford
16. Technical fouls–Eastern Mennonite-None, Guilford-None. A-267
Old Dominion Athletic Conference game
Guilford is ranked 15th in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll.