College Men’s Basketball Final – Guilford 80, Greensboro 61

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Rookie Zeb Richardson (West Jefferson, N.C./Ashe County) totaled 16 points and seven rebounds, both career highs, in Guilford College’s convincing 80-61 basketball win over visiting Greensboro College Wednesday night. Richardson set his previous personal bests four days earlier with 15 points and seven boards in the Quakers’ Dec. 1 win over Randolph-Macon College.

Guilford senior Travis Tracy (Spartanburg, S.C./Spartanburg Day School) added a personal-best 15 points, including 11 in the first half, which helped the Quakers (5-1) open a 45-27 halftime lead. Tracy made four-of-six first-half shots and Richardson was five-for-six from the floor as Guilford singed the nets at a 54.5% clip from the field in the opening frame. Six different Quakers tallied during an 18-4 run that turned a five-point lead into a 19-point edge 3:30 before halftime.

Greensboro (3-3) scored the second half’s first two baskets to get within 45-31, but the Pride drew no closer. Guilford ended up shooting 52.3 percent from the floor, including nine-of-17 (52.9%) from three-point land and held a commanding 49-28 rebounding advantage. The Quakers had five students score in double figures and owned Greensboro in the paint, 44-16.

Josh Pittman (Archdale, N.C./Trinity) added 12 points, a game-high five assists, four rebounds, two blocks and a steal for Guilford. Senior center Kevin Gibbs tallied a career-high 11 points in 16 minutes and Jake Hopkins finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Matt McCarthy chipped in nine points, six boards and five assists for Guilford.

Greensboro’s Luqman Tijani (Greensboro, N.C./Page) led all scorers with 18 points and shared team-high rebounding honors with five. Damian Dixon finished with 11 points for the Pride and teammate Brian Thomas contributed 10 points.

Guilford has now won three straight men’s basketball games from its cross-town rivals and 12 of the last 15 meetings with Greensboro. The Quakers hold a 30-12 edge in the all-time season series.

Guilford resumes Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play Saturday (12/8) when it travels to top-ranked Virginia Wesleyan College. The Marlins were 5-0 through games of Dec. 2 and ranked first according to D3hoops.com. Tip-off in Virginia Beach is set for 2:00 p.m.

Greensboro vs Guilford
12/05/12 7:30 p.m. at Greensboro, NC – Ragan-Brown Field House
At Greensboro, NC – Ragan-Brown Field House
GUILFORD 80, GREENSBORO 61

GREENSBORO (3-3): TIJANI, Luqman 8-13 1-1 18; DIXON, Damian 3-9 3-3 11; THOMAS, Brian 4-12 0-0 10; MOSS, Chakiris 3-13 2-2 8; BUTTS, Lawrence 1-3 2-2 5; MARTIN, Raheem 2-6 0-1 4; BELL, Lamonte 1-1 0-0 2; THOMAS, Jacob 1-2 0-0 2; LEAMAN, David 0-1 1-2 1; SAUVEUR, Abdias 0-0 0-0 0; JESTER, Tracy 0-4 0-0 0; MUSSINGTON, AJ 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-65 9-11 61.

GUILFORD (5-1): RICHARDSON, Zeb 8-11 0-1 16; TRACY, Travis 6-9 0-0 15; PITTMAN, Josh 4-8 2-2 12; GIBBS, Kevin 5-9 1-2 11; HOPKINS, Jake 5-8 0-0 10; McCARTHY, Matt 3-11 0-1 9; FREEMAN, Will 2-5 0-1 4; STEVENSON, Ben 1-3 0-0 3; MORRISON, James 0-0 0-0 0; MOZON, Sam 0-0 0-0 0; HINTON, Jarred 0-0 0-0 0; TURPIN, Clarence 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-65 3-7 80.

   Greensboro....................   27   34  -   61
   Guilford......................   45   35  -   80

3-point goals–Greensboro 6-27 (DIXON, Damian 2-6; THOMAS, Brian 2-8; TIJANI, Luqman 1-4; BUTTS, Lawrence 1-3; THOMAS, Jacob 0-1; JESTER, Tracy 0-2; MUSSINGTON, AJ 0-1; MOSS, Chakiris 0-2), Guilford 9-17 (McCARTHY, Matt 3-9; TRACY, Travis 3-4; PITTMAN, Josh 2-3; STEVENSON, Ben 1-1).
Fouled out–Greensboro-None, Guilford-None.
Rebounds–Greensboro 28 (TIJANI, Luqman 5; MARTIN, Raheem 5), Guilford 49 (HOPKINS, Jake 7; RICHARDSON, Zeb 7).
Assists–Greensboro 10 (TIJANI, Luqman 2; THOMAS, Brian 2; MARTIN, Raheem 2), Guilford 24 (PITTMAN, Josh 5; McCARTHY, Matt 5; TRACY, Travis 5).
Total fouls–Greensboro 11, Guilford 15.
Technical fouls–Greensboro-None, Guilford-None.
Attendance-596
Nonconference game