GREENSBORO, N.C. – Behind a 14-0 burst out of the under-16 media break, plus double-figures from all five starters and a reserve, the Guilford College men's basketball team (5-4, 0-1 ODAC) returned from their long December hibernation in resounding fashion, with a 116-84 victory over the United States Coast Guard Academy (4-5, 0-2 NEWMAC) in the opening contest of the 2025 Springhill Suites Guilford Men's Holiday Classic on Jack Jensen Court at the Ragan-Brown FieldHouse on Monday evening.
In a clash between squads unafraid to fire from range, with 77 total three-point attempts split virtually even between the adversaries, it was the Quakers work on the interior that set them apart with a 42-22 edge in the paint, much thanks to a 34-17 advantage on the break. Overall, GC shot .434 from the field against the Bears' .371 mark while the three-point shooting was near-identical with Guilford connecting on 14-of-39 against USCGA's 13-of-38. The big difference was at the charity stripe where the Quakers frequented to the tune of 49 attempts, the ninth-highest total in Division-III this season, and made 30 of them while Coast Guard mustered just 25 total looks at the line.
Gabe Proctor (Apex, N.C.) bounced back from his slow stretch with a 23-point outburst that included six made treys, tying his career-high while also matching his season-high of seven caroms.
Braylen Salters (Cleveland, Ohio) followed with 19 points and six rebounds with an efficient showing, making 4-of-9 overall and 3-of-5 from distance.
Rival Axselle (Mechanicsville, Va.) continued to raise the bar with another career-high scoring mark, this time of 16 on 6-for-12.
Dawson Edwards (Durham, N.C.) paced all players and set career-highs with eight rebounds, four of them offensive, five assists, and seven steals on top of 10 points, matching the scoring output of
Kody Clayton (Cary, N.C.) who tacked on four assists and four steals.
Magnus Swinger (Concord, N.C.) rounded out double-digit scorers with a dozen on 3-for-5 shooting.
Luke Farrell paced the Bears with 17 points and seven boards on 6-of-9 shooting, with Jordan Frazer matching his team-best caroms figure. Trevor Parks pitched in a dozen and Elijah Parent had a rough night, shooting just 4-of-12 to net 10 tallies. Aiden Dabbondanza led the guests with five helpers.
Lots of fluid basketball was played over the first five-and-a-half minutes, with the teams trading makes and the lead throughout the stretch of play with the media break finally coming at the 14:23 mark with the tallies 15-14 in favor of USCGA. The Quakers exploded from there with
Christian Bacon (Lithia Springs, Ga.) splitting a pair at the line, Salters netting a trey, Clayton finishing a two, Salters making two at the stripe,
Reynolds Escher (Atlanta, Ga.) converting a second-chance, yet another two free throws from Salters, then finally a layup by Axselle to consist of a 14-0 lead-seizing run, and the game never really got close again. Parent halted the drought for the Bears, but GC rattled off 12 of the next 14 points too, taking a 20-point edge into the under-8 at 43-23 thanks to a seven-minute stretch that saw them outscore Coast Guard 26-5.
USCGA showed some resistance and got the game back to 16 on a couple of occasions, but the Quakers finished the half strong. With the tallies 50-34, GC rolled out a 14-2 half-ending stretch that included six free throws and triples from Proctor and Salters, lifting their lead to 64-36 into the locker room.
The second half never got overly close with the lead never being less than 20. The highlights were instead provided by the end of the bench that saw extended action. Among the performers were
Jonah Ridgill (Greensboro, N.C.) and his career-high four rebounds,
Dimitris Olympios (Athens, Greece) coming away with a couple steals, and the Quaker debut and first Guilford points for
Ke Edwards (Hickory, N.C.) as GC polished the 116-84 win.
The Quakers play in the Holiday Classic Championship game tomorrow, Tuesday, December 30
th, against Concordia College- Moorhead, who rolled Skidmore College in the late game, 83-60. Tipoff between the Quakers and Cobbers is set for 3:00 PM.
#GoQuakes
