Men

Guilford+College+mens+basketball+team+poses+after+winning+the+ODAC+Tournament.+Photo+By+Andrew+Walker+2017

Andrew Walker

Guilford College men’s basketball team poses after winning the ODAC Tournament. Photo By Andrew Walker 2017

Andrew Walker, Staff Photographer

The men’s basketball team went into the ODAC tournament as the number one seed and fought through Hampden-Sydney College and Virginia Wesleyan College to make the finals and play Emory & Henry College. Against Emory & Henry, the Quakers rode on the backs of first-years Jaylen Gore and Kyler Gregory who each had 13 points. The Quakers and Wasps were tied at halftime but the Quakers pulled away in the second half, winning 64-54.

The Quakers earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament and played Thomas More College at Marietta College in Ohio. Guilford started the game hot and never gave Thomas More a chance to take the lead. After one half, the Quakers were up 43-34 behind a team-high 11 points from sophomore forward Carson Long. The Quakers hit eight three-pointers and outrebounded Thomas More 18-7. During the second half, the Quakers extended their lead, with 18 points coming from the bench, including 11 points from Gregory. For the game, the Quakers had four players in double figures and outrebounded Thomas More by 14 rebounds.

With that victory, the Quakers advanced to the round of 32 to face Marietta College. Early in the first half, the Quakers had a 10 -point lead on Marietta, but it disappeared as quickly as it started and Marietta took control of the game. Although they had hot shooting for a few minutes in the first half, the Quakers went ice cold for the rest of the half and finished shooting 31 percent. Marietta shot 52 percent from the field and made six three-pointers in the first half.

Marietta continued where they left off in the second half as they continued hitting shots and dominating Guilford in all facets. Long, Gregory and sophomore forward Alston Thompson all scored in double figures. Gregory ended his first year at Guilford strong with three straight games in double digit scoring.

Although the season ends for the men’s team, they will look forward to next year as they only have three players graduating. The Quakers will lose guard Zachary Houston, forward Dominique Henderson and guard Michael Reiney. Houston and Henderson started every single game of this year.