SALEM, Va. – Junior Colton Hunt (Whittier, N.C./Smoky Mountain) scored a game-high 29 points in Randolph College’s 75-53 upset of Guilford College Friday in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament game.
The victory in the Salem Civic Center sends the sixth-seeded WildCats (14-13) into a semifinal matchup with number-two Randolph-Macon College, a 99-91 overtime winner over Eastern Mennonite University. Third-seeded Guilford concludes its season with a 17-9 mark.
Hunt, a First Team All-ODAC guard, made three of his five three-pointers in the first half and helped the WildCats open a 31-20 halftime lead. Randolph made six of its 11 trifectas in the opening period and held Guilford to 29 percent field-goal shooting.
Guilford’s shooting woes continued into the second half as the Quakers missed six of their first eight shots. Randolph opened the period on an 18-9 run to take a 49-29 lead on Chris Battaglia’s (Smithfield, Va./Portsmouth) three-pointer six minutes into the period.
The WildCats’ second-half lead grew to 21 before the Quakers got back to 12 points with 8:44 left on two Gabriel Lowder (Yadkinville, N.C./North Forsyth) free throws. Randolph scored the next six points and never looked back in their third win over Guilford in four games.
Hunt shot five-of-eight from three-point range and also had five rebounds, four assists and two steals for the WildCats. His 29 points was one shy of a career high. Battaglia made all three-pointers and finished with 15 points for Randolph, which shot 51.1% from the floor, including 11-of-21 (52.4%) from three-point land. Senior Derrick Woods-Morrow (Greensboro, N.C./Northeast Guilford) finished with eight points, six boards and a block.
Junior Josh Pittman (Archdale, N.C./Trinity) paced the Quakers with 15 points and made four three-pointers. Lowder finished with 12. Guilford managed just 31.6% shooting from the floor, five-of-19 from beyond the arc.
The loss marked the final game for Guilford’s five seniors: Will Cloyd (Atlanta, Ga./St. Pius X), Gene Efird (Portsmouth, Va./Poquoson), Lowder, Brad Monroe (Asheboro, N.C./Eastern Randolph), and Justin Stafford (Winston-Salem, N.C./Calvary Baptist). The Quakers compiled an 89-28 record in their four seasons, made two trips to the NCAA Division III semifinals and won two ODAC titles.
Randolph vs Guilford
2/24/12 8:00 PM at Salem, VA
RANDOLPH – 75
GUILFORD – 53
RANDOLPH (14-13): HUNT, Colton 9-16 6-7 29; BATTAGLIA, Chris 6-8 0-0 15; WOODS-MORROW,Derrick 3-5 2-2 8; EHILEGBU, Mike 2-8 2-2 8; DESGAIN, Zach 2-5 3-3 7; THOMAS, Julius 1-2 2-2 5; SHIFLETT, Dylan 1-2 1-2 3; SCALES, Parris 0-0 0-0 0; SNEED, Logan 0-0 0-0 0; MEHRETAB, Esayas 0-0 0-0 0; FORD, Ahsan 0-0 0-0 0; COLQUITT, Cameron 0-1 0-0 0; CONROW, David 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-47 16-18 75.
GUILFORD (17-9): PITTMAN, Josh 4-13 3-4 15; LOWDER, Gabriel 4-9 3-4 12; MONROE, Brad 2-3 2-2 6; HINTON, Jarred 2-4 0-0 4; GIBBS, Kevin 2-5 0-2 4; FREEMAN, Will 1-5 2-3 4; EFIRD, Gene 2-4 0-0 4; CLOYD, Will 0-0 2-2 2; McCARTHY, Matt 1-4 0-0 2; STAFFORD, Justin 0-1 0-0 0; TRACY, Travis 0-2 0-0 0; SULLIVAN, Carson 0-7 0-0 0; TURPIN, Clarence 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-57 12-17 53.
Randolph...................... 31 44 - 75 Guilford...................... 20 33 - 53
3-point goals–Randolph 11-21 (HUNT, Colton 5-8; BATTAGLIA, Chris 3-3; EHILEGBU, Mike 2-5; THOMAS, Julius 1-2; COLQUITT, Cameron 0-1; DESGAIN, Zach 0-2), Guilford 5-19 (PITTMAN, Josh 4-8; LOWDER, Gabriel 1-4; HINTON, Jarred 0-1; EFIRD, Gene 0-1; McCARTHY, Matt 0-2; SULLIVAN, Carson 0-3).
Fouled out–Randolph-DESGAIN, Zach, Guilford-None.
Rebounds–Randolph 30 (EHILEGBU, Mike 8), Guilford 32 (GIBBS, Kevin 6; MONROE, Brad 6).
Assists–Randolph 16 (DESGAIN, Zach 9), Guilford 3 (MONROE, Brad 2).
Total fouls–Randolph 14, Guilford 17.
Technical fouls–Randolph-None, Guilford-None.
A-311
ODAC Quarterfinals Game #4