College Men’s Basketball Final – Guilford 61, Lynchburg 56

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Matt McCarthy scored a game-high 20 points and helped Guilford College hold off visiting Lynchburg College, 61-56, in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) basketball action Wednesday night.

McCarthy’s layup at the buzzer gave Guilford a 33-27 lead after the Quakers (10-4, 3-2 ODAC) led for the entire opening half. Guilford held the advantage until Lynchburg’s Chase Hankins drained three-pointers on consecutive possessions, the second of which gave the Hornets (9-5, 2-3 ODAC) their first lead of the game with 14 minutes left. Sammy Hooper added back-to-back jumpers less than two minutes later, capping a 12-4 Hornets’ spurt and giving the guests a 46-43 edge with 12:33 remaining.

McCarthy sparked the Quakers’ comeback with his second three-pointer of the night, which tied the game at 47-47. Will Freeman’s layup from beneath the basket off a nifty Jonny Rice feed restored Guilford’s advantage for good with 8:43 to play. Rice scored Guilford’s next five points and kicked out to McCarthy, who knocked down a long-range two-pointer that opened a 56-50 lead with 4:40 left to play.
The basket marked Guilford’s final field goal of the night as McCarthy sealed the win by making five-of-eight free throws in the final 1:26.

Rice compiled his team-leading sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Freeman contributed seven points and five rebounds in 10 minutes off the bench and Will Koppenhaver chipped in with six points and four boards.

A.J. Hamilton led Lynchburg with 10 points off the bench. Daniel Rowe scored nine thanks to three three-pointers and Alex Graves scored eight in 30 foul-plagued minutes. The Quakers double-teamed the ODAC’s sixth-leading scorer nearly every time he touched the ball and held him to three-for-eight shooting from the floor. Omar Kemp scored five points, blocked three shots and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, but was also limited by fouls.

Guilford hosts Shenandoah University Saturday (1/17) at 3:00 p.m. in an ODAC contest.

Lynchburg vs Guilford
01/14/15 7:30 PM at Greensboro, NC – Ragan-Brown Field House
At Greensboro, NC – Ragan-Brown Field House

GUILFORD 61
LYNCHBURG 56

LYNCHBURG (9-5, 2-3 ODAC): A.J. Hamilton 3-7 4-4 10; Daniel Rowe 3-6 0-0 9; Chase Hankins 3-5 0-0 9; Alex Graves 3-8 2-2 8; Omar Kemp 1-2 3-7 5; David Rogers 1-1 3-5 5; Lyndon White 1-7 2-3 4; Sammy Hooper 2-6 0-0 4; Zack Burnett 1-9 0-0 2. Totals 18-51 14-21 56.

GUILFORD (10-4, 3-2 ODAC): McCARTHY, Matt 5-13 8-11 20; RICE, Jonny 3-12 5-6 11; FREEMAN, Will 3-5 1-2 7; KOPPENHAVER, Will 3-3 0-0 6; GREENE, Cole 2-2 0-1 4; HINTON, Jarred 2-2 0-0 4; JACKSON, Hunter 2-5 0-0 4; HYATT, Trever 1-10 0-0 3; STAVES, Brandon 1-1 0-0 2; HOUSTON, Zachary 0-3 0-0 0; ROGERS, Jarrod 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-56 14-20 61.

Lynchburg.....................   27   29  -   56
Guilford......................   33   28  -   61

3-point goals–Lynchburg 6-26 (Daniel Rowe 3-6; Chase Hankins 3-5; Lyndon White 0-4; Sammy Hooper 0-2; Zack Burnett 0-5; A.J. Hamilton 0-4), Guilford 3-17 (McCARTHY, Matt 2-7; HYATT, Trever 1-7; JACKSON, Hunter 0-1; HOUSTON, Zachary 0-1; RICE, Jonny 0-1).
Fouled out–Lynchburg-None, Guilford-None.
Rebounds–Lynchburg 37 (Omar Kemp 9), Guilford 38 (RICE, Jonny 10).
Assists–Lynchburg 7 (Lyndon White 3), Guilford 10 (HYATT, Trever 3).
Total fouls–Lynchburg 17, Guilford 17.
Technical fouls–Lynchburg-None, Guilford-None.
A-325
Old Dominion Athletic Conference game