Guilford College Men’s Basketball Coach Tom Palombo picks up career win 650, as Quakers top Shenandoah, 67-63

Palombo Picks Up 650th Career Win, Guilford College Men’s Basketball Staves Off Shenandoah
Farrar posts double-double in narrow conference victory
from Bryce Johnson, Director of Athletic Communications

GREENSBORO, N.C. – It came down to the wire, but in the end the nationally receiving votes Guilford College men’s basketball team held off Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) foe Shenandoah University, 67-63, for the 650th win in the storied career of Head Coach Tom Palombo on Jack Jensen Court inside the Ragan-Brown FieldHouse on Saturday afternoon.

Already the winningest coach in Quakers men’s basketball history, Palombo reaches his second milestone victory of the season after collecting his 400th win at Guilford back in November. In his 22 years since coming to Greensboro, he has led GC to a winning record in all but one of them with the exception being his third season in the job with the program winning three ODAC crowns, getting seven NCAA Tournament berths, and advancing to three Division-III Final Fours.

This season, Palombo and the Quakers have 14 wins against four losses, and are now 7-2 in ODAC play and with other results around the conference, the already tight top of the league got a little tighter with now the top-five teams separated by just 0.5 games. The Hornets, despite giving GC a run for their money, is not in that group as they fell to 6-13 on the season and 1-9 in league play.

Guilford attempted a season-low 13 three-point attempts on the day, although they were efficient with them, connecting at a .385 rate. In fact, it was actually the Hornets who shot like the Quakers making 48% of their long-range attempts, a big factor keeping them in the game. GC instead opted to dominate the interior on this night and they did so successfully, holding a 32-14 edge in the paint and shooting .533 overall. For SU, 12 of their 23 made shots came from deep as they shot just .404 from the field despite their sharpshooting from three.

It was a dominant showing for Nick Farrar (Apex, N.C.) as the senior eclipsed 20 points in his second-straight game and for the third time in his last four. Finishing with his third double-double on the year, he added a game-high ten rebounds, three offensive, while shooting 8-of-13 from the field and distributing three assists, tied for the team lead with Luke Proctor (Apex, N.C.). Gabe Proctor (Apex, N.C.) only took seven shots in this one, but did net 14 on 4-of-7 overall and 3-for-5 from deep. Chase Ellis (Douglasville, Ga.) rounded out GC double-digit scorers with ten points on 4-of-7. Caleb Farrish (McLeansville, N.C.) only scored five points, but has seven boards and two blocks.

It was a big game from Dorian Davis for the Hornets as he led all players with 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting and 4-for-9 from three. He paired that with a team-leading eight rebounds, three steals, and a block. Joshua Stephen was the only other player to reach double-digit scoring with 15 on top of four helpers, tied with Landon Russ for a game-high. Russ and Joseph Baldwin each contributed eight points making two threes each.

Ellis got things started, attacking the rim for layups to score Guilford’s first six points. However, Shenandoah countered with a trio of makes from distance and with a made two by each side the score stood at 11-8 at the first media timeout. SU scored five of the first seven points out of the stoppage, staking themselves to a six-point advantage. The Quakers finally hit their first two threes of the game as Farrar and Gabe Proctor knocked down consecutive second-chance treys, leveling the score. Proctor scored five for GC, but threes by Stephen and Jordan Durham made it 22-21 at the under-seven.

A 9-2 stretch headlined by six points by Farrar alone thrust GC into the driver’s seat out of the break but the Hornets countered with four-straight. Farrar made a two before SU’s sixth and final three-point make of the opening stanza, on just 11 attempts, made it a one-point game again although Proctor closed the half by splitting a pair at the line, making the halftime tallies, 33-31.

The second half became a see-saw as following a miss by each side to open the period, seven-consecutive possessions with a lead change ensued with the Hornets coming out of it with a 42-40 margin. Six-straight Quaker points put the home team in front again, but a 7-1 stretch put the guests ahead once more. The final make of that run was a three by Davis, but Caleb Furr (Warrenton, Va.) rounded out his quiet seven-point performance with a three, countering with the second of six-straight baskets with a lead change with Bobby Samples (Brighton, Mich.) finishing a tough layup through contact to end the trend and give GC a 54-53 lead with six to play.

Down the stretch, the benches and the fans of each side got louder and louder with each make as the Hornets sensed a chance for an upset while the Quaker faithful tried to will their squad to victory. Farrar made a two then found Farrish for an open dunk to make it a two-possession game with 4:13 remaining. However, SU got a Stephen floater and a Russ three to even the score again. Farrar got two points, but a Stephen layup tied it up for the ninth, and ultimately final time with 55 seconds left as Ellis put the Quakers in front for good with a pullup jumper from the free throw line. Farrar, Luke Proctor, and Gabe Proctor combined to go 5-of-6 from the charity stripe down the stretch to hold off the Hornets, 67-63.

Guilford completes their homestand, and the month of January hosting the University of Lynchburg next on Wednesday night, January 29th. Tipoff is set for 7:30 PM.

#GoQuakes

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