No. 24 Guilford College Men’s Basketball Halted by Virginia Wesleyan in Physical Affair

No. 24 Men’s Basketball Halted by Virginia Wesleyan in Physical Affair
Quakers cannot solve Marlin defense in conference defeat
from Bryce Johnson, Director of Athletic Communications

GREENSBORO, N.C. – In a game more reminiscent of a backyard brawl than a basketball game, the No. 24 nationally ranked Guilford College men’s basketball team was stifled by Virginia Wesleyan University, falling 69-50 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action on Jack Jensen Court inside the Ragan-Brown FieldHouse on Wednesday night.

In a rematch of last February’s ODAC Quarterfinals clash, the result was similar but different with the Marlins exploding out of the gates and maintaining it through the finish to improve to 12-3 on the season and 5-1 in league play. The Quakers just could not find traction on the night, falling to 11-4 and 4-2 against conference competition.

A rough-and-tumble affair, 39 fouls were called, including one technical, resulting in a combined 45 free throw attempts, 29 of them by the guests. As a result, they finished with a 22-12 edge in points at the charity stripe but GC just could not get going no matter where they were shooting, converting at just a .378 rate overall and finishing just 4-of-16 from three. For VWU, they finished shooting .442 from the field and .429 from deep.

Dawson Edwards (Durham, N.C.) was Guilford’s top player on the night, finishing with ten points, tied for the team high, shooting 5-of-11 and securing three steals. Gabe Proctor (Apex, N.C.) got going a little in the second half, matching Edwards’ scoring output with VWU holding him to 3-of-11 from the field. Most impressive was the Marlins’ work defensively on Nick Farrar (Apex, N.C.) as he failed to score double-digits for the first time this season finishing with nine on just six shot attempts. He and Chase Ellis (Douglasville, Ga.) led the Quakers in rebounding with four each while Bobby Samples (Brighton, Mich.) was the only player credited with multiple assists, finishing with two.

Amari Moorer was brilliant for Virginia Wesleyan, leading all players not only in points, with 18, but also assists, with three, and steals, with four, adding a block and six rebounds. Moorer made half of his ten shots from the field and two of his four three-point attempts, as well as going 6-for-7 on free throws. Omari Deveaux followed with 16 points making 3-of-5 from distance and Khai Seargeant rounded out double-digit scorers with 11. Amarion Wilson led all players with eight caroms, six on the offensive end, adding two blocks.

Virginia Wesleyan came out of the gates and, metaphorically, punched the Quakers in the mouth. GC actually got the games first basket as Edwards stripped Deveaux and scored on the other end, but VWU proceeded to claim the lead swiftly after on a Devreaux three, the first of their six on ten attempts in the opening stanza. Leading 8-6 out of the under-14 media timeout, the Marlins created distance in a hurry. Some of it was self-inflicted by the Quakers, as they failed to finish their defensive possessions on the boards on a couple of occasions, but Virginia Wesleyan tightened defensively and caught fire on offense scoring 17-unanswered across the next five-and-a-half minutes.

The visitors continued to build on their advantage, with their lead peaking at 25 on a couple of occasions, with the final instance coming at 35-10 with five minutes left in the period. Guilford worked to chip away, getting a 10-2 spurt to close the gap to within 20 at the midway point.

Out of the half, the Quakers maintained their momentum, too, getting an energizing, poster dunk from Caleb Farrish (McLeansville, N.C.) then a slick finish by Gabe Proctor, cutting it to a 13-point game in the process. However, Moorer knocked down a three then got a steal-to-score as a counter and GC never seemed to really find that spark again.

As the physicality increased alongside the chippy-ness, the pace slowed as the contest deteriorated into a slugfest. Any momentum GC tried to build was futile due to the number of whistles, and while some good work at the charity stripe did allow the Quakers to get within 12 on a couple of occasions, the Marlins were exceptional as well, making 17-of-19 from the stripe with the score finalizing at 69-50.

The Quakers hit the road for the first time in two weeks, venturing up to Washington & Lee University to clash with the Generals on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 PM.

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