College Men’s Basketball Final – Lynchburg 64, Guilford 59

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Alex Graves scored all of his 15 points in the second half to rally visiting Lynchburg College to a 64-59 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) men’s basketball win at Guilford College Wednesday night. The victory upped the Hornets’ (12-4, 5-2 ODAC) winning streak to four and ended the Quakers’ (10-6, 5-2 ODAC) four-game winning streak.

Graves, who entered as the ODAC’s third-leading scorer (17.9 ppg.), was limited to no points and one first-half shot. Teammate Zack Burnett, who finished with a game-high 21 points, picked up the slack with 12 points in the opening stanza. Burnett’s hot hand helped the Hornets grab an early seven-point lead before the Quakers closed the period on an 11-2 run for a 26-24 intermission advantage.

The run grew into a 20-3 spurt as the Quakers scored nine of the first 10 second-half points and grabbed a 35-27 edge on a Dominique Henderson free throw with 16:38 left. Lynchburg’s Burnett answered with his third and final trifecta of the game to quell the Quakers’ spurt.

Guilford restored its edge to seven points on a Justen Best (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill (Tennessee Temple) layup with 9:40 remaining, but Graves put the Hornets (12-4, 5-2 ODAC) on his back and led them to the victory. His traditional three-point play with 7:28 left tied the game at 49-49 in the midst of a 15-3 Lynchburg run. Graves scored seven straight points in the spurt, which opened a 56-51 Lynchburg lead.

Best answered with a three-pointer and Guilford grabbed a 57-56 edge on Will Freeman’s traditional three-point play with 3:46 left. A.J. Hamilton layup at the other end followed by a Graves basket restored a three-point Hornets’ lead.

Two Jarrod Rogers (Archdale, N.C./Trinity) free throws brought the Quakers back to within one point with a minute left, but Lynchburg answered with a Graves jumper as the shot clock expired. After a timeout with 12.6 seconds left, the Quakers got an open look for Rogers at the top of the key, but his three-pointer was off the mark. Lynchburg corralled the rebound and sealed the win with two Austen Arnold free throws.

Burnett and Graves were the lone double-figure scorers for the Hornets, who shot 15-of-24 (62.5%) in the second half. Graves made six-of-nine shots and led the Hornets with nine rebounds and three blocks. Arnold finished with nine points and three assists.

Guilford’s Best paced the Quakers with 12 points and four assists. Carson Long chipped in 11 points in 18 minutes. Freeman totaled nine points and a career- and game-best 13 boards off the bench. Guilford collected 26 of its 45 rebounds on the offensive end, which led to a 23-5 edge in second-chance points.

Guilford’s January 23 contest at Bridgewater College has been postponed due to weather concerns. A makeup date has not been determined. The Quakers’ next scheduled game is January 27 at league-rival Hampden-Sydney College.

Lynchburg vs Guilford
01/20/16 7:00 p.m. at Greensboro, NC – Ragan-Brown Field House

LYNCHBURG 64
GUILFORD 59

LYNCHBURG (12-4, 5-2 ODAC): Zack Burnett 9-16 0-0 21; Alex Graves 6-9 3-5 15; Austen Arnold 2-10 4-4 9;
A.j. Hamilton 3-3 0-0 6; Lyndon White 2-4 0-0 6; Omar Kemp 1-3 2-2 4; Bobby Ford 1-4 0-0 3; Jay Allen 0-1 0-3 0; Devante’ Young 0-2 0-0 0; Sammy Hooper 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 9-14 64.

GUILFORD (10-6, 5-2 ODAC): BEST, Justen 4-12 1-3 12; LONG, Carson 3-7 3-4 11; HENDERSON, Dominique 3-11
1-2 9; FREEMAN, Will 4-10 1-1 9; THOMPSON, Alston 3-6 0-0 6; BRYANT, John 1-4 2-2 4; METZ, AJ 1-1 0-0 2; HYATT, Trever 1-5 0-0 2; HOUSTON, Zachary 1-5 0-0 2; ROGERS, Jarrod 0-6 2-2 2. Totals 21-67 10-14 59.

Lynchburg.....................   24   40  -   64
Guilford......................   26   33  -   59

3-point goals–Lynchburg 7-24 (Zack Burnett 3-7; Lyndon White 2-3; Bobby Ford 1-4; Austen Arnold 1-7; Devante’ Young 0-2; Sammy Hooper 0-1), Guilford 7-29 (BEST, Justen 3-9; HENDERSON, Dominique 2-6; LONG, Carson 2-5; HYATT, Trever 0-2; HOUSTON, Zachary 0-3; ROGERS, Jarrod 0-4).
Fouled out–Lynchburg-None, Guilford-None.
Rebounds–Lynchburg 33 (Alex Graves 9), Guilford 45 (FREEMAN, Will 13).
Assists–Lynchburg 11 (Austen Arnold 3), Guilford 16 (HOUSTON, Zachary 4; BEST, Justen 4; HENDERSON, Dominique 4).
Total fouls–Lynchburg 18, Guilford 16.
Technical fouls–Lynchburg-None, Guilford-None.
A-325

Old Dominion Athletic Conference game