Guilford College men take early exit at ODAC Tournament in Salem, Virginia

SALEM. Va. – Caleb Pearson made six of Randolph College’s school-record 15
three-pointers and scored 21 points in the Wildcats’ 75-72 Old Dominion
Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament quarterfinal win over Guilford College
Friday.

The fifth-seeded Wildcats (17-9), in their first ODAC Men’s Basketball
Tournament, advance to a semifinal matchup with top-seeded Virginia Wesleyan
College. The Marlins downed #9 Washington and Lee University, 98-78, in an
earlier quarterfinal Friday.

Guilford, seeded fourth in the tournament, concludes its fifth straight
winning season with a 16-10 record.

The hot-shooting Wildcats stroked nine three-pointers in the first half
alone, nearly twice their per-game average for the season. Leading 40-24 at
the break, Randolph kept knocking down threes and led, 61-44, after Colton
Hunt’s trifecta with 8:20 left in the game.

The Quakers, who trailed by 19 early in the second half, maintained their
composure and staged a furious rally. After two Hunt free throws gave
Randolph a 71-59 edge, Guilford reeled off 13 of the game’s next 15 points.
Two Tobi Akinsola (Cary, N.C./Word of God Christian (Bethany)) free throws
pulled the Quakers to within 73-72 with 41 seconds left.

Two Randolph timeouts later, Pearson drew a foul and sank two free throws
with 16 seconds remaining that opened a 75-72 Wildcats’ lead. Guilford had
no time outs remaining, but Josh Pittman (Archdale, N.C./Trinity) still had
a good look at a potentially game-tying three that glanced off the rim as
time expired.

Randolph’s Hunt scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half and added six
boards and two assists. Reserve teammate Timmy Clarke tallied all 11 of his
points in the first half thanks to three three-pointers. Randolph shot an
impressive 52.3 percent from the field in their ODAC Tournament debut,
including 15-of-27 (55.6%) from three-point land.

Guilford’s Pittman led all scorers with 24 points, 15 in the second half.
Akinsola finished with 15 points and contributed to Guilford’s 42-10 edge in
interior scoring. Brad Monroe (Asheboro, N.C./Eastern Randolph) chipped in
eight points and had a game-high eight rebounds. Guilford recovered from
28.6 percent first-half shooting and shot 52.9 percent in the second half
and 41.9 percent for the game.

Randolph vs Guilford
02/25/11 3:00 p.m. at Salem, VA – Salem Civic Center
At Salem, VA – Salem Civic Center
RANDOLPH 75, GUILFORD 72
RANDOLPH (17-9)
PEARSON, Caleb 6-8 3-4 21; HUNT, Colton 4-10 6-7 16; CLARKE, Timmy 4-5 0-0
11; WOODS-MORROW,Derrick 3-5 1-2 7; HAMILTON, Pete 1-5 2-2 5; BATTAGLIA,
Chris 2-3 0-0 5; SHIFLETT, Dylan 1-1 2-3 4; EHILEGBU, Mike 1-6 0-0 3;
COLQUITT, Cameron 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 23-44 14-18 75.
GUILFORD (16-10)
PITTMAN, Josh 10-20 4-5 24; AKINSOLA, Tobi 5-9 5-6 15; MONROE, Brad 2-6 4-4
8; STAFFORD, Justin 2-6 3-6 7; TRACY, Travis 3-5 0-0 7; LOWDER, Gabriel 3-7
0-0 6; STEPHENSON, Martin 0-3 3-4 3; ANDERSON, T.C. 1-4 0-0 2; BELICIC,
Connor 0-0 0-0 0; EFIRD, Gene 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 19-25 72.
Randolph…………………. 40 35 – 75
Guilford…………………. 24 48 – 72
3-point goals–Randolph 15-27 (PEARSON, Caleb 6-7; CLARKE, Timmy 3-4; HUNT,
Colton 2-7; COLQUITT, Cameron 1-1; HAMILTON, Pete 1-4; BATTAGLIA, Chris 1-1;
EHILEGBU, Mike 1-3), Guilford 1-9 (TRACY, Travis 1-2; LOWDER, Gabriel 0-1;
ANDERSON, T.C. 0-1; PITTMAN, Josh 0-5). Fouled out–Randolph-None,
Guilford-ANDERSON, T.C.. Rebounds–Randolph 29 (HUNT, Colton 6), Guilford 32
(MONROE, Brad 8). Assists–Randolph 19 (EHILEGBU, Mike 5), Guilford 7
(PITTMAN, Josh 2; MONROE, Brad 2). Total fouls–Randolph 19, Guilford 22.
Technical fouls–Randolph-None, Guilford-None. A-700
ODAC Men’s Tournament
Quarterfinal No. 2

Dave Walters
Guilford College Athletics