Guilford College wins opening game in ODAC Basketball Tournament

SALEM, Va. – Tyler Sanborn scored 13 of his team-high 17 points in the second half and added 15 rebounds and five blocks in Guilford College’s 69-61 win over Lynchburg College in Friday’s Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament quarterfinals.

The Quakers (24-2), ranked fourth in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, advance to Saturday’s (2/27) semifinal round against the winner of Friday night’s quarterfinal game between Washington and Lee University and Virginia Wesleyan College.

The seventh-seeded Hornets (12-15) gave the second-seeded Quakers all they could handle, especially in the first half. Lynchburg senior Steven Echols scored four three-pointers and 16 of his game-high 26 points in the period, which ended in a 36-36 tie. The opening 20 minutes featured eight lead changes and eight ties.

Guilford junior T.C. Anderson started the second-half scoring with his third three-pointer, which gave the Quakers the lead for good. Lynchburg stayed close in the physical game as Guilford’s lead grew no larger than five points for the first 12 minutes of the second half. A Martin Stephenson bucket followed by two Rhett Bonner free throws with 7:13 remaining opened a 56-47 Guilford lead.

K.C. Mendez’ layup with 1:29 left made it a 66-61 game, but the Quakers preserved their 11th straight win over the Hornets by keeping Lynchburg scoreless for the final 109 seconds.

Sanborn, the ODAC’s Kurt Axe Player of the Year, made five-of-six second-half field goals and posted his league-leading 23rd double-double of the season. Anderson netted a career-high 13 points, seven in the first half. Bonner made eight of 12 free throws and finished with 12 points. Clay Henson and Martin Stephenson both scored eight for Guilford, which converted 13 offensive rebounds into 15 points.

Echols finished with five three-pointers on nine shots and also had five boards and seven steals. Teammate Nate Campbell posted a double-double with 13 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Austin Chillemi added nine points and five boards in 22 minutes off the bench.

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Newspaper Box Score

Lynchburg vs Guilford

02/26/10 6:00 p.m. at Salem, VA – Salem Civic Center

At Salem, VA – Salem Civic Center

GUILFORD 69, LYNCHBURG 61

LYNCHBURG (12-15)

ECHOLS, Steven 9-18 3-3 26; CAMPBELL, Nate 6-16 1-1 13; CHILLEMI, Austin 3-7

3-5 9; PUFFENBARGER, Brad 2-5 0-0 5; MENDEZ, KC 2-6 0-0 4; CONNOR, Brandan

1-3 0-0 2; LANGROCK, Jeff 1-1 0-0 2; BURGESS, Jack 0-0 0-0 0; ROACH, Mike

0-2 0-1 0; REED, DANNY 0-0 0-0 0; GLOVER, Michael 0-0 0-0 0; KAISER, Robby

0-1 0-0 0; WIMS, Michael 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 24-62 7-10 61.

GUILFORD (24-2)

SANBORN, Tyler 6-10 5-12 17; ANDERSON, T.C. 3-6 4-6 13; BONNER, Rhett 2-6

8-12 12; STEPHENSON, Martin 4-7 0-1 8; HENSON, Clay 2-13 4-4 8; PITTMAN,

Josh 2-5 1-2 6; MONROE, Brad 0-3 3-4 3; LOWDER, Gabriel 1-2 0-0 2; AKINSOLA,

Tobi 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-52 25-41 69.

Lynchburg………………… 36 25 – 61

Guilford…………………. 36 33 – 69

3-point goals–Lynchburg 6-21 (ECHOLS, Steven 5-9; PUFFENBARGER, Brad 1-4;

MENDEZ, KC 0-2; CONNOR, Brandan 0-2; ROACH, Mike 0-2; KAISER, Robby 0-1;

CAMPBELL, Nate 0-1), Guilford 4-19 (ANDERSON, T.C. 3-6; PITTMAN, Josh 1-4;

HENSON, Clay 0-7; BONNER, Rhett 0-2). Fouled out–Lynchburg-CHILLEMI,

Austin; CONNOR, Brandan, Guilford-None. Rebounds–Lynchburg 41 (CAMPBELL,

Nate 10), Guilford 42 (SANBORN, Tyler 15). Assists–Lynchburg 8 (ECHOLS,

Steven 2; CHILLEMI, Austin 2), Guilford 7 (HENSON, Clay 3). Total

fouls–Lynchburg 27, Guilford 17. Technical fouls–Lynchburg-None,

Guilford-None. A-1006

Semifinal #3 of the ODAC Men’s Basketball Tournament

Guilford is ranked 4th in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll.

Dave Walters
Guilford College Athletics