Gabe Proctor, (RV) Men’s Basketball Get in Joyous Season’s Spirit, Roll Bridgewater
Quakers “let it snow” from deep, make season-high dozen threes
from Bryce Johnson, Director of Athletic Communications
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The atmosphere at Jack Jensen Court inside the Ragan-Brown FieldHouse was merry and bright indeed, and Gabe Proctor (Apex, N.C.) was like Kris Kringle, delivering a career-high 24 points as the nationally receiving-votes Guilford College men’s basketball team rode their sleigh, and 12 three-pointers, to a 79-56 victory over Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) foe Bridgewater College on Friday evening.
It will not be a year without a Santa Clause, or without a winning ODAC record at the calendar change for the Quakers, who will head into 2025 with a mark of 2-1 in league play, and a conference record at-or-above .500 at the unofficial midway point for the tenth-straight year. They received a third-straight win for the first time this season, improving to 7-2 overall. The Eagles could not soar like those magical reindeer in the late-December skies, falling to 6-5 and 1-2 against ODAC opponents.
Like a well-hung stocking, Guilford filled the nets to capacity, shooting 51.8% from the field and had a season-high 12 makes on just 22 attempts from the metaphorical North Pole. For BC, it was unfortunately a good amount of coal in their sock on this night, shooting just 35.5% overall and 24.2% from three. Additionally, despite the present of a 13-7 edge in offensive rebounds, the Eagles did not take advantage, with GC out-scoring their guests 15-7 on second-chances.
Thinking he had the gift of a career-high a couple weeks ago, Gabe Proctor had it stolen by a very Grinch-like stat correction. But those familiar with the old tale know the green guy eventually gives back to the Who’s, and that was the case on this evening as Proctor poured in a college-best 24 points to lead all players, making 9-of-13 overall, and 4-of-7 from three along the way. He was also very much in the giving spirit himself, finishing tied for the game-high, and leading the Quakers with four assists. Guilford got a real big gift under their tree, with Chase Ellis (Douglasville, Ga.) returning to the court to make three of his four shots to contribute 11 in reserve. The jolly Saint Nick Farrar (Apex, N.C.) was restricted some due to some early foul trouble, but still contributed 11 points and five rebounds. Caleb Farrish (McLeansville, N.C.) might as well have been tasked with handling the tree topper, as he was above the rim all night finishing tied for the game-high and leading the team with seven rebounds to go with ten points and three helpers.
Like a trusted Amazon driver, Aaron Oates delivered on his route ahead of the holidays, leading Bridgewater with 17 points, although he shot 6-of-14 to get there, while adding six rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Maleek Richardson gifted a career-high 16 points and a team-leading seven rebounds as well. However, just one other Eagle reached double-figures, with Will Dunlap pitching in 11, and the other ten players to appear for BC contributed just 12 combined points. Joseph Crenshaw was in the spirit of the season and distributed a team-high four assists.
The evening began with a Richardson three, but a trio of Quaker buckets were abound, two by Proctor and one by Farrar, as GC took the lead 75 seconds in and they would never trail or be tied again. Another two by Richardson constituted the end of the scoring ahead of the under-14 media break with a 6-5 score. Guilford got one of the evening’s biggest plays right out of the timeout, having been gifted a second-chance, and then another present via a foul on a made three by Luke Proctor (Apex, N.C.) who converted the four-point play, and while a 7-2 burst got the guests within two, seven-straight by the hosts would ensue. As they took a nine-point lead into the second media timeout.
Bobby Samples (Brighton, Mich.) completed a three-point play out of the break, then Farrar scored seven and Farrish put the other bookend on a 13-2 run with an and-one of his own, opening the box of an 18-point lead at 36-18. Two Dunlap layups and an Oates two helped cut down the deficit, but an Ellis three was mixed in to make the tallies 39-24 at the half.
Guilford’s offense shot an unbelievable 59.3% from the field in the first period while forcing Bridgewater to take 15 threes, of which they only made two.
Gabe Proctor and Richardson exchanged baskets out of the locker rooms, but then the Quakers pulled away. Dawson Edwards (Durham, N.C.) hit a couple of threes and GC got four free throws, evenly split between Farrar and Proctor to open up a 25-point lead and it never really got competitive again. The Eagles chipped into it, and got back to 16 at around the midway point. However, out of that, Guilford went on a 15-5 stretch to pull away to a 72-46 lead and the differential would remain in the 20’s for the rest of the game, finishing in a 79-56 score.
Oates did his part to try and make it competitive, scoring 13 in the second half, but Gabe Proctor caught fire, making all five of his shots, including four threes, scoring 16 in the second stanza to cruise to the win.
The Quakers get the chance to enjoy the holiday for a week before they return to Jack Jensen Court to host the Springhill Suites Guilford College Holiday Classic starting on Sunday, December 29th. That day they will host Sewanee with an expected tip of 7:00 PM, although that is subject to change based on the length of games earlier in the day.
#GoQuakes