VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Braylen Salters (Cleveland, Ohio) popped off for a career-high 36 points for the Guilford College men's basketball team (10-9, 4-6 ODAC), but the leaders of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), (RV) Virginia Wesleyan University (13-5, 8-1 ODAC) managed to hold off the Quaker rallies, 99-95 in the TowneBark Arena on Saturday afternoon.

VWU cashed in a 30-22 advantage on the fast break while outscoring their counterparts 56-42 in the paint, but this was a contest that was defined by the fouls. Overall, 54 whistles were blown for fouls, near-evenly divided with 28 called on GC, but the result was 82 free throws with the Quakers making 28-of-38 against the Marlins' 34-of-44 showing. The guests shot better from three, making 7-of-22 against the hosts' 3-for-15 rate, but Virginia Wesleyan was superior overall from the field, converting on half of their 62 shots while Guilford managed a .423 mark on 71 tries.

Salters was unreal in this rematch of the last-two ODAC Quarterfinals clashes, as the sophomore was a steady presence at the line, cracking the program top-10 for free throw makes in a season with a career-highs of 18 makes and 22 attempts at the stripe on his way to a career-best 36 points while tacking on six rebounds and three assists, tied with Gabe Proctor (Apex, N.C.), Kody Clayton (Cary, N.C.), and Christian Bacon (Lithia Springs, Ga.) for the team-lead in helpers. Proctor was decent, making 4-of-10 overall and 3-for-6 from range to net 15 points along with three steals. Reynolds Escher (Atlanta, Ga.) chipped in one of his better collegiate performances thus far, coming a rebound short of a double-double, making eight of his 10 shots to score 17 points while his nine rebounds finished tied with Rival Axselle (Mechanicsville, Va.) for the game-high tally. Ke Edwards (Hickory, N.C.) came on strong late scoring seven of his 11 in the second half in reserve.

The man right behind Salters on the conference scoring leaderboard, Omari Deveaux, was excellent in his own right, leading VWU with 29 points on 9-of-15 from the field and 11-for-13 at the line. T.J. East also dropped a 20-spot in the scoring column, making 7-of-10 to net 22 tallies plus a team-leading eight rebounds and game-high four assists. Paul Anderson and Malcolm Velmar rounded out double-digit scorers with 15 each.

The early proceedings of this one lacked rhythm or flow as 11 fouls led to nine combined attempts at the free throw line with the squads combining to go just 4-for-9 at the stripe before even reaching the under-12 timeout. A four-point possession that got GC on the scoreboard proved important as Salters split a pair at the line, then the Quakers got the offensive rebound and Proctor buried a long three. Overall, Escher was a difference-maker, netting nine points himself as the tallies stood at 18-16 at the second media stoppage. The parade to the free throw maintained, as 10 of the 20 possessions straddling the break ended in a whistle and free throws. An Escher layup finally ended the trend and sparked a flurry of baskets bookended by another hoop from the freshman making the score even at 32 at the under-eight. Things settled a little bit from there as the Quakers and Marlins went back and forth as neither team got beyond of four points, then Proctor got fouled on a rebound with 0.5 seconds left, and he made both to bring the tight opening half to a close with the score standing at 47-45 in favor of the hosts.

Evenly dividing the first 12 points of the second half VWU extended their lead with consecutive and-ones converted by East before Axselle made a short jumper then East finished another hoop at the rim as the Marlins had seized an eight-point lead at the initial media stoppage before a pair of Anderson freebees extended it to a double-digit lead for the first time. The top-two scorers in the ODAC coming in, Deveaux and Salters, traded the next 10 tallies then Velmar cashed in a straight away three to make lead 13. The Quakers finally countered with a 12-2 run cutting the game to three in a blink. Jumping ahead, the hosts had gradually gotten their lead back to six, before Ke Edwards asserted himself, making consecutive baskets at the rim getting the Quakers back within a pair although East answered with a triple, Amari Moorer made a second chance and Deveaux hit a couple at the line making it a nine-point deficit suddenly. Once again GC responded, putting in nine of the next 12 to get back to three points again. Unfortunately, Slaters missed a three with a chance to tie then Deveaux converted a layup off an inbound play to ice it. While Dawson Edwards (Durham, N.C.) made a swift layup to keep a sliver of hope alive, Deveaux split a pair at the line to ice it with a 99-95 final score.

Guilford returns home, hosting Randolph College on the evening of Wednesday, February 4^th, tipping off at 7:00 PM.

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