GREENSBORO, N.C. – Opening Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play with a conference title rematch, No. 14 nationally ranked Roanoke College (5-1, 1-0 ODAC) was able to reverse their fortunes from a season ago, besting the Guilford College men's basketball team (4-4, 0-1 ODAC), 96-79 at Jack Jensen Court at the Ragan-Brown FieldHouse on Wednesday evening.

In a clash between the ODAC's top defense and top offense to open the new campaign, the Maroons were able to prove their style superior on this evening, holding the Quakers to a season-low .325 shooting rate against their .544 mark. GC's edge from range, with 12 makes against RC's four, kept them in it for a while, but eventually it proved fruitless. The biggest differentiators, however, came in the paint and in transition as 62 of the 96 Maroon tallies came on the interior, against 26 for the Quakers, while also holding a 33-4 advantage on the break.

Braylen Salters (Cleveland, Ohio) paced all players with 27 points on the evening through he needed 23 shots to get there. Rival Axselle (Mechanicsville, Va.) recorded a double-double with career-bests of 15 points and 11 rebounds, including four on the offensive end. Reached double-digits but definitely had an off night, making just 4-of-16 to finish with 13. Kody Clayton (Cary, N.C.) did well with eight points, five boards, a team-high four assists, and three steals.

Roanoke was led by the double-double effort of Gavin O'Malley, who had 23 points and 13 boards while Jackson Bell had a 20-spot as well. Tyler Barnes, Caleb Franze, and Marcus Morgan each had 16 tallies with Barnes adding nine rebounds and Morgan tacking on a game-high five assists.

Going punch-for-punch through the opening 12 minutes of play, the Quakers and Maroons battled basket-for-basket experiencing a dozen lead changes and six ties, but the fouls mounted on GC, putting RC in the bonus entering the break with a 31-30 lead.

Morgan's tandem on the line ahead of the break spurred an 8-0 burst as the Maroons claimed a lead they would never relinquish. In part thanks to their seven points at the stripe, Roanoke outscored Guilford 23-15 after the stoppage, mounting a 54-45 lead at the half.

Clayton's second-career made three then a Salters steal-to-score got the Quakers back within four immediately out of the half, but unfortunately that is as close as they would get. For a while, the Quaker three-point shooting did keep them within striking distance with Salters in particular making a few big shots. Unfortunately, with the tallies, 74-66, Roanoke ripped off six-straight, getting their advantage to double-digits for good and ultimately handing GC their second-straight ODAC-opening defeat.

Guilford gets virtually the rest of the month off, not hitting the court again until they host the United States Coast Guard Academy for the Springhill Suites Guilford Holiday Classic on Monday, December 29^th tipping off at 4:00 PM at Jack Jensen Court.

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