Danville, Va. (1/2/07) -- Behind a 9-for-11, 19-point effort from Ben Strong, Guilford was able to hand Averett their first loss of the season with a 74-69 decision in the Grant Center on Tuesday.

Averett (9-1), who had not played since Dec. 18, had little answer for Strong's interior presence. Guilford (9-0) held Cougar big man Damien Brown to only six points and four rebounds. On the other end, the Quakers scored 46 points in the paint and Jordan Snipes added a perimeter presence with 22 points. Strong also added 12 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season.

The contest went down to the wire, as the score was knotted at 65-65 with 2:47 remaining. A 3-pointer by Thomas Burge for Guilford was answered with a pair of Andrew Boor free throws to give the Quakers a 68-67 advantage with under two minutes to play. Burge added a lay up to give the Quakers another three-point cushion with 1:13 remaining. However, the Quakers missed three consecutive front-ends of one-and-ones to keep AU close. With 16 seconds remaining Frazer canned a floater in the lane to bring Averett to within 70-69. However, Guilford was 4-for-4 down the stretch from the line to stay out of reach and give the Quakers their best start since 1967. Guilford is now one of only eight teams in the nation that remains undefeated.

Boor gave a solid performance for Averett, going 6-for-10 for 16 points. Shaun Hagwood added 15 points and Frazier tallied 10. Additionally, with Cory McDaniel out with an injury and Jonathan Rumley slowed with an injury, Justin Parker stepped up with eight points, all in the second half. Rumley played only 14 minutes and only four in the second half. Guilford out rebounded Averett 41-25. It was only the third time this season that the Cougars were out rebounded.

Guilford returns to Virginia for a pair of Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) matches against Randolph Macon Saturday (1/6) and versus defending ODAC and Division III national champion Virginia Wesleyan Sunday (1/7). The Cougars will return to action on Friday at 8 p.m. against Richard Stockton in the York College Invitational.

-Story courtesy of Averett Sports Information.