LYNCHBURG, Va. – The pressing defense of the Guilford College men's basketball team (10-8, 4-5 ODAC) locked in over the final 16 minutes of play and the Quakers mounted a rousing rally to erase a 12-point second-half deficit and pick up a huge Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) victory, 92-88, over the University of Lynchburg (10-9, 5-5 ODAC) on Thursday afternoon at the Turner Gymnasium.

Forcing 14 of the Hornets' 28 total turnovers in the second half of action, leading to a 21-8 advantage in points off them in the second stanza, and 36-25 edge overall proved instrumental in this matchup of the seventh and eighth place teams in the ODAC standings. The Quakers did not shoot well from the field, connecting at just a .372 rate against Lynchburg's .500 mark, but superior work from range, going 10-of-30, and from the line, making 18-of-22, far-exceeded the Hornets, who finished just 3-for-16 and 13-of-19 in those categories. Lynchburg dominated the interior and transition game, outscoring their guests 64-36 in the paint, 22-13 on the break, and 25-15 on second-chances despite GC getting more offensive boards, 25-20, and they got more contributions from their reserves, with their bench doubling-up the Quaker second unit, 46-20, but ultimately, GC's shooting barrage proved too much in this crazy affair that saw 11 lead changes and six ties.

Braylen Salters (Cleveland, Ohio) flipped his usual script, netting 15 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, making 7-of-17 overall and all nine tries at the line to get there. Behind four three-point makes on eight tries, Gabe Proctor (Apex, N.C.) also outscored every Hornet in the contest, finishing with 20 tallies. Dawson Edwards (Durham, N.C.) packed the stat sheet missing his second-career double-double after stat edits, finishing with 11 points, a team-high nine rebounds, six on the offensive end, three assists, and two steals. Rival Axselle (Mechanicsville, Va.) completed Quakers in double-digits with 10 tallies, five boards, and three steals while Kody Clayton (Cary, N.C.) rounded out the opening-five with a well-rounded effort, finishing with six points, seven rebounds, five offensive, a game-high six assists, a steal, and a block in the win. Ke Edwards (Hickory, N.C.) and Reynolds Escher (Atlanta, Ga.) pitched in nine and 10 respectively in reserve, and while he missed all-five of his shot attempts in the game, Tripp McMillen (Dobson, N.C.) snared a game-best four steals for GC.

Elijah Thomas made 6-of-10 on his way to 17 points on top of eight rebounds, six offensive, to lead Lynchburg in scoring off the bench. Jamarcus Brown checked in with his ODAC-leading seventh double-double making 8-of-11 from the field to score 17 points along with a game-high 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals, and four blocks. Jesse Mitchell and John Henderson each pitched in 10 and 12 respectively for the hosts while Deondre Ross all led the hosts in helpers with five. Guilford's defensive work on Lynchburg's number-two scorer, Piercen Young, also stood out as they held the senior guard without a make from the field against a trio of turnovers in the game.

The early moments of this pivotal ODAC clash would be defined by runs as the hosts netted the opening five points, then Axselle got GC on the board, posting the Quakers initial five points as the team countered with nine-consecutive overall, Lynchburg put in 12 of the next 15, before GC brought the game to the under-12 with an 8-2 jolt, as the tallies stood at 20-19. The adversaries evenly divided the ensuing ten points before the Hornets made their move. Led by five tallies from Brown, Lynchburg found success breaking the Quaker press while limiting the vaunted Guilford offense, and the result was a 14-3 run to open a double-digit advantage at 38-28 entering the under-four timeout. GC did whittle a touch off the UofL lead prior to the break, but the score still stood at 47-38 entering the half.

Weathering the storm in the opening minutes of the second stanza, Lynchburg did extend their lead to a dozen before a timeout and out of it, the Quakers finally got rolling. Dawson Edwards hit a three out of the break before Axselle got a steal, got a basket, and got a foul, converting the three-point play. Proctor followed up with a two as well and in under 60 seconds, GC cut the deficit from 12 to four. The score remained within two possessions for a span, then got to seven after a Thomas layup, but Proctor cashed in a deep triple immediately after then Edwards got a steal-to-score making it a two-point game. After a stop, Guilford came down and Axselle shoveled to a trailing Salters who connected on a wing three, flipping the lead for the first time since the 8:48 mark in the first half at 65-64 approaching the 11-minute mark.

The Hornets regained control briefly, scoring eight of the next ten, but another big three from Edwards narrowed it, then a Salters second chance finish, plus a foul, plus a technical foul led to a five-point possession for the Quakers as the ODAC's most-common free throw shooter calmly connected on all-three opportunities at the stripe. Mitchell countered with a pair for the hosts but then Salters hit a pull-up, Escher converted a third chance try, Salters cashed in a trey, and Proctor made a pair at the line, making it a 15-2 uprising, and a 82-74 Guilford advantage with five and a half left. Lynchburg got within five via a Thomas three-point play, but Axselle hit a short two then Proctor buried a big-time three granting the guests their first double-digit lead and they needed every bit of it as the Hornets scored the nine of the final 11 tallies, including the last seven, and Brown got a clean look with, what was believed to be a chance to tie with seconds to spare, but he fired into the back iron as the score finished at 92-88 after postgame stat corrections.

It will be a swift turnaround for Guilford as they get under 48 hours of R-and-R before venturing to Virginia Beach to battle Virginia Wesleyan in a rematch of the last-two ODAC Quarterfinals matchups on Saturday, January 31^st beginning at 12:00 PM.

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