GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Guilford College men's basketball team (6-7, 0-4 ODAC) fell to No. 2 nationally ranked Randolph-Macon College (12-1, 4-1 ODAC), 83-73 in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Semifinal's rematch, 83-73, on Saturday afternoon on Jack Jensen Court at the Ragan-Brown FieldHouse.
Without the ODAC's leading scorer
Gabe Proctor (Apex, N.C.), who was under the weather and limited to just three and a half scoreless minutes, the Quakers largely hung with the Yellow Jackets in this one. They held the nation's 13
th-most efficient three-point attack to just 3-of-20 and forced R-MC to commit a season-high 23 turnovers, but could not overcome the guests' .442 field goal percentage against their .393 mark. Benefitting from significant minutes from
Ke Edwards (Hickory, N.C.) and
Tripp McMillen (Dobson, N.C.) for the first time this winter, GC's bench kept them in it with a 47-33 edge in points off the bench, but it could not offset Randolph-Macon's 56-38 advantage in the paint, and 33-15 margin on the break.
While Edwards and McMillan provided a boost in reserve for GC, who deployed 14 players in the game, but
Reynolds Escher (Atlanta, Ga.) provided the biggest boost off the pine, netting 17 points, the third-highest total of his collegiate career, making 6-of-8 to get there.
Braylen Salters (Cleveland, Ohio) paced all players, netting 18 points thanks to eight from the line while adding three steals. GC did not have a third double-digit scorer for just the third time all season however, as
Magnus Swinger (Concord, N.C.) finished third on the squad, tallying eight.
Rival Axselle (Mechanicsville, Va.) led the Quakers with seven rebounds while setting a career-high with four steals and adding two blocks.
Kody Clayton (Cary, N.C.) dished out a game-high five assists.
Jabril Robinson led the Yellow Jackets with 15 points on 5-of-8, adding three steals and finishing in a five-way tie for the team-high of two assists. Malcolm Hodges and Amr Areikat provided a dozen apiece and Delani Hammonds rounded out double-digit scorers with 10. Keishawn Pulley Jr. led all players with nine rebounds including four of them on the offensive end.
In a tight first half of action that never saw either team build more than a seven-point lead, it was the Quakers who threw the first punch, trading the initial baskets before Axselle made a two then Salters has a steal, setting up a
Christian Bacon (Lithia Springs, Ga.) layup to claim a two-possession edge in a five-second span. The GC pressure was disruptive in the opening minutes, forcing the ODAC's least-turnover-prone to commit a trio of them in the opening minutes and when Escher converted an and-one straddling the under-16, Guilford had built a 14-8 lead. Unfortunately, that would be their largest lead of the game as the visitors countered with an 11-2 stretch to seize the advantage before the under-12 stoppage, 19-18.
Chunks of points led to two ties and two lead changes in the ensuing minutes, but Randolph-Macon got the last run. A converted three-point play by Hammonds at the under-eight sparked a 13-2 unanswered streak, claiming the lead for good, extending it to a half-high seven and largely maintaining that the rest of the way to have a 39-33 advantage into the locker room.
The Quakers did not go quietly, hanging tough before consecutive McMillan buckets around the 14-minute mark got them within one into a Yellow Jackets timeout. Three points apiece ensued, bringing the score to 51-50 before R-MC pulled away, scoring 13 unanswered and 20 of the next 23 points to build a double-digit lead they never relinquished, and while GC chipped away, it was too-little, too-late as the score finalized at 83-73.
Guilford's conference slate lightens some coming up, hosting Eastern Mennonite University next in the Ragan-Brown FieldHouse on Wednesday, January 14
th, tipping off at 5:00 PM.
#GoQuakes
