Quakers Advance To ODAC Championship Game, Men’s Basketball Upsets Top-Seeded Randolph-Macon
GC outlasts regular season champions in defensive struggle
from Bryce Johnson, Director of Athletic Communications
SALEM, Va. – In a grimy, defensive affair inside the Salem Civic Center, the fifth-seeded Guilford College men’s basketball team (21-6, 12-4 ODAC) pulled off the upset, bouncing top-seeded Randolph-Macon College (23-4, 15-1 ODAC), 52-49 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, the Quakers advance to the ODAC Championship game for the sixth time in program history, earning a chance for their fifth conference crown. They will be matched up with Roanoke College, who won, 96-92 over the University of Lynchburg on the other side of the bracket.
Offense was at a premium for both sides in this one, with GC finishing with a .423 field goal percentage while making just two of their 13 three-point attempts. For R-MC, they mustered just a .351 field goal percentage while going 5-of-28 from distance. The difference in this one would be in points off turnovers and in the paint for Guilford. Despite committing more turnovers, 11-8, the cardinal and grey took advantage of them, leading to a 12-8 lead in points off them while in the paint, they outscored R-MC 32-22.
As is so often the case, in games like these, it was an unsung hero that stepped up and, in this game, that would end up being Caleb Furr (Warrenton, Va.) who’s 12 points, all of them in the first half, really kept Guilford in the game. The forward finished the game leading all players in scoring, making 5-of-6 from the field. Nick Farrar (Apex, N.C.) contributed 10 points and six rebounds, but was the only other player to score double-digits for either side. Gabe Proctor (Apex, N.C.) was quiet shooting the ball, scoring just seven points, but he did add a team-high three assists and two steals while both of his rebounds came on the offensive end. Chase Ellis (Douglasville, Ga.) led the Quakers with seven rebounds including four of them of the offensive variety.
The Yellow Jackets struggled to take the lid off as their First Team All-ODAC tandem of Jabril Robinson and Keishawn Pulley Jr. managed to shoot just 6-of-27 between the two of them and 2-for-15 from range. The former did lead R-MC in scoring and assists, with nine and four respectively. Malcolm Hodges was effective, making 4-of-5 to score eight points and Liam Joyce paced the top-seed with seven caroms.
The offenses actually were strong in the first half of play as the early stages of the game were a punch-counterpunch affair. Even at 11 at the first media timeout then at 17 at the nine-minute mark, neither team had managed to get more than two-possessions of separation to that point, but it was then that R-MC created some distance. Hodges made a mid-range hook shot then Pulley Jr. buried a three and Delani Hammonds converted a tip-in layup into a Quaker timeout as Tom Palombo wanted to stop the bleeding with 7:01 to play.
It would prove successful as Guilford would chip away at the deficit. Gabe Proctor finished a layup then Caleb Farrish (McLeansville, N.C.) knocked down a turnaround jumper as GC took advantage of consecutive Randolph-Macon turnovers. After Oliver Jones spilt a pair at the stripe, Furr made a layup to get GC back within two. Five-straight by the Yellow Jackets were countered by four-in-a-row from Furr before Robinson made a layup. On the Quakers’ final possession, Farrar finished a three-point play, allowing GC to remain within two scores after Robinson beat the horn with a layup, sending the game to the half at 34-30.
Opening the second stanza, Luke Proctor (Apex, N.C.) buried a trey and Farrar converted another three the old fashion way on a second chance hoop. Robinson and Ellis traded twos, but outside of that burst right out of the locker rooms, the defenses picked up the intensity, and it would be a one-possession game the rest of the way. Theo Antinori hit a second-chance three for R-MC with 13:55 left but GC would only permit the Yellow Jackets to score six points for the remainder of the contest. Dawson Edwards (Durham, N.C.) made consecutive baskets then Hodges hit a two with 11:47 left, but that would be the final lead Randolph-Macon would hold.
Bobby Samples (Brighton, Mich.) gave the Quakers the lead for good then Farrish hit a two. Pulley Jr. and Liam Joyce had consecutive makes around the 4:30 mark but Farrar split the middle with a basket of his own and Guilford just did not permit Randolph-Macon to score again. Ellis converted a physical hoop at the rim and as the clock dwindled, the Yellow Jackets needed a three more-and-more, but just could not get it, Ellis blocked a corner look and a bunch of other chances came up well-short. Even then, R-MC had a chance with the ball in the closing seconds, but Robinson was short on a three then missed another chance after the rebound got tipped out and the Quakers held on to the 52-49 upset.
GC will look to grab title number-five tomorrow, March 2nd beginning at 2:00 PM at the Salem Civic Center against Roanoke College.
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