Rocky Mount, N.C. (12/8/07) - Guilford College senior Ben Strong scored a season- and game-high 35 points in the Quakers' 91-80 basketball win at North Carolina Wesleyan College Saturday. Strong added 12 rebounds and sparked a decisive 13-3 Guilford run in the final 5:44.

Guilford, ranked seventh in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, moves to 4-1 with its third straight win. The Battling Bishops drop to 4-3 with their first home loss of the year.

North Carolina Wesleyan took a 32-18 lead during a frenetic first half that featured 28 total turnovers and seven Bishops' three-pointers in 15 attempts. Guilford narrowed the deficit to 44-38 by halftime and grabbed its first lead of the game on an Eric Belkoski jumper 2:17 into the second half.

The final 20 minutes featured eight of the game's nine ties and all 13 lead changes. The teams traded baskets for most of the half, but North Carolina Wesleyan's post players ran into foul trouble, which helped open things up for Guilford's 6-11 Strong and 6-10 sophomore Tyler Sanborn. Strong netted 25 of his points in the second half on 11-for-16 field-goals shooting. Sanborn scored four points in the second half and grabbed eight of his game- and career-high 14 rebounds.

After the Battling Bishops' Trey Drake tied the game for the final time at 73-73, Strong answered at the other end with a traditional three-point play to give Guilford the lead for good. His jumper with 6:01 left triggered an 11-0 Quakers' run that he finished four minutes later with a jumper in the lane to open an 89-77 edge.

Drake scored 14 of his team-high 21 points in the first half and finished with a game-high five three-pointers and a team-best six boards. Senior teammate Lenny Hall also scored 21 points and had a game-high seven assists. Sophomore guard Jarmel Arrington contributed 18 points off the bench, 11 in the second half.

Guilford sophomore Clay Henson scored 15 points and Belkoski finished with 14 as the Quakers placed four students in double-digits scoring. Sanborn earned his second career double-double with 10 points and added three blocks. Guilford enjoyed a 52-27 rebounding advantage and netted 15 points off of their 17 offensive rebounds.

Strong scored over 30 points for the first time this year and the ninth time in his career. He took over sole possession of eighth place on Guilford's career scoring list with 1,629 points. Strong made seven-of-eight free throws, which helped the Quakers shoot 26-of-28 (92.9%) from the charity stripe.

Guilford takes next week off for final exams before visiting Shenandoah University Dec. 17 in the Quakers' final game of 2007. North Carolina Wesleyan plays Muhlenberg College Dec. 16 in the opening round of the Hal Nunnally Invitational in Ashland, Va.