(RV) Randolph-Macon Upends No. 17 Men’s Basketball in ODAC Opener
Monster second half propels Yellow Jackets past Quakers
Written by: Bryce Johnson, Guilford College Director of Athletic Communications
ASHLAND, Va. – Starting Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action with a premium matchup against the preseason favorite, (RV) Randolph-Macon College, the No. 17 nationally-ranked Guilford College men’s basketball team found themselves on the wrong end of an 86-55 decision inside the Crenshaw Gym on Wednesday night.
The Quakers see their five-game winning streak in ODAC openers snapped, dropping to 4-2 on the season and 0-1 in conference action. Playing for the first time in nearly two weeks, the Yellow Jackets up their record to 3-2, 1-0 in league play.
The hosts caught fire from range in the second half, making 10-of-18 to finish with a 45.2% conversion rate from three on the night in the win. Shooting 53.4% from the field overall they also moved the ball with precision, leading to a 19-9 advantage in assists. GC shoot good, but not great, shooting 41.7% from the field and 33.3% from deep. This evening ended up as a rare instance in which Guilford did not control the glass, dropping the battle of the board, 38-24, with R-MC turning 13 offensive rebounds into 20 points.
Nick Farrar (Apex, N.C.) finished as the top Quaker in the scoring column for the fourth-consecutive game, netting 14 on 5-for-11 to go with a team-high six rebounds. Luke Proctor (Apex, N.C.) was the only other Quaker to reach double-figures with 11 although he needed 11 shots to get there. Caleb Furr (Warrenton, Va.) was solid in his first Guilford start, scoring eight points on .500 from the field and a game-high three steals. Caleb Farrish (McLeansville, N.C.) finished alongside Farrar and Furr leading the team with two assists each.
Amr Areikat led a quartet of Yellow Jackets in double-digits, pacing all players with 18 points on 6-of-10 and 5-for-9 from range, dishing a game-high six helpers as well. Keishawn Pulley Jr. followed with 15 tallies and Malcolm Hodges connected on 7-of-10 to net 14. Jabril Robinson rounded out those in double-figures scoring 11 points on the night. Hodges was tied with Liam Joyce with a game-high seven rebounds each with the former collecting four on the offensive end.
Triples from Areikat and Robinson staked Randolph-Macon to a 6-2 lead out of the gates before a pull-up two by Luke Proctor and a trey from Gabe Proctor (Apex, N.C.) thrust the Quakers in front, albeit temporarily. Areikat’s second three-point make in the first four-and-a-half minutes gave the hosts the lead again before three-straight free throws, with the under-14 break in between, made it a two-possession advantage.
Luke Proctor cashed in a two ahead of a two-minute scoring drought that was finally snapped by a Robinson layup. Guilford worked the score back even a couple of times with Furr netting a pair of equalizing scores although a Hodges second-chance hoop opened their edge to 22-18 into the second media timeout. A Gabe Proctor triple at the 4:42 mark made it a two-point game, but the Yellow Jackets ripped off an 11-2 stretch to open up a double-digit edge, although Furr made a two, making the tallies 37-28 at halftime.
The Quakers appeared as though they were going to get right back in it with Farrar connecting on a pair of threes straddling a Pulley Jr. layup, suddenly bringing the score within five points with 18 to play. Hodges made a two and consecutive baskets from Joyce curbed the momentum and a Robinson basket made it a 13-point advantage. Four-consecutive tallies from Farrar followed before GC flirted around keeping the deficit in single-digits, but the final 12 minutes were all Yellow Jackets. Up 52-43 after a Farrish trey, the hosts went on a 16-5 stretch to make their lead 20 points and they never looked back with a 15-1 run a few minutes later putting the game away for good with the score finalizing at 86-55.
Guilford will visit the other Randolph, the WildCats of Randolph College, on Saturday, December 7th next with tipoff set for 2:00 PM.
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