College Men’s Basketball Final-Guilford 88, #14 Lynchburg 82 (OT):Marcus Curry(Northern Guilford HS) with 23 points for Quakers/(Jaylen Gore(Northwest Guilford HS) with 7 pts., 7 rebounds and 3 assists for Guilford

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Junior Kyler Gregory scored a team- and career-high 25 points and added 12 rebounds in Guilford College’s 88-82 overtime Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) basketball win at the 14th-ranked University of Lynchburg Wednesday night.

The Quakers (14-5, 8-2 ODAC) dealt the ODAC co-leading Hornets (17-2, 8-2 ODAC) their second loss of the season and ended Lynchburg’s 10-game winning streak. Lynchburg, ranked 14th in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, also lost to Guilford December 5 in Greensboro, 82-78.

Connor Schroeder’s three-pointer with four seconds left in regulation forced the extra stanza and capped a 9-0 Hornets’ run in the final 64 seconds. Lynchburg trailed by as many as 14 points earlier in the half, but got back in the game by shooting 11 of 17 (64/7%) from three-point range against one of Division III’s top three-point defenses. Devante’ Young’s made all four shots from distance in the second half and scored 15 of his 18 points in the final 20 minutes.

The Quakers held a 44-24 edge in interior scoring and went back inside in overtime. Two Marcus Curry buckets gave Guilford a four-point lead, but Lynchburg rallied and went ahead 79-78 on a Schroeder layup with 2:28 left in overtime. The basket proved the host finals field goal of the game as Guilford closed the game on a 10-3 run that included six points by Gregory. Two Carson Long free throws after Schroeder’s basket put Guilford in front for good.

Curry added 23 points and Long scored 12 for Guilford, which shot 50 percent from the floor, but just 5-for-22 from three-point range. Gregory made nine-of-15 field goals and 7-of-8 free throws. His 12 boards led all contestants and Curry added eight as the Quakers enjoyed a 49-35 edge on the glass. Liam Ward contributed 10 points, four assists, and three rebounds off the bench. Jaylen Gore added seven points, seven rebounds, and three assists.

Schroeder scored a game-high 27 points on 11-for-24 field-goal shooting. He made 5 of 15 3-pointers and added six rebounds. Young went 5-for-5 from distance on the way to 18 points. Chance Greene had four treys in his 16-point night off the bench and Austin Wrighten tallied 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Lynchburg shot 44 percent (16-for-36) from 3-point range against a Guilford team that entered the game ranked sixth nationally with a 27.4% three-point field-goal percentage defense.

Coach Tom Palombo’s Quakers stay on the road to play league-foe Eastern Mennonite University Saturday (1/26) at 4:30 p.m.

Courtesy of Dave Walters
Guilford College Athletics

Photos by Andy Gore
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