WINCHESTER, Va. – The Guilford College men's basketball team (13-12, 7-9 ODAC) fell in their regular season finale, 78-72 to Shenandoah University in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action at the James R. Wilkins Jr. Athletics & Events Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
With the loss, and Averett University's 83-52 win over Eastern Mennonite University, the Quakers fall to the eighth seed in the ODAC Tournament with their quest to defend their title making a stop in Ashland, Virginia with a clash against top-seeded Randolph-Macon College on Tuesday, February 24^th.
 
Perhaps GC was saving all their made shots for the tournament, as it was a poor shooting performance for the Quakers, who shot just .350 from the field in the game, their lowest since the calendar changed and second-lowest of the season. This included a 6-of-29 mark from three while the Hornets shot at a .528 clip overall and made 12-of-25 from distance to overcome a 27-shot disadvantage in the game.
 
Gabe Proctor (Apex, N.C.) finished his regular season on a high-note, netting a team-leading 22 points on 8-of-19 shooting. Braylen Salters (Cleveland, Ohio) saw his string of 30-plus point outputs snapped, netting just 20 on 6-for-26 from the field though he grabbed a career-high nine rebounds and four steals, as both he and Dawson Edwards' (Durham, N.C.) cracked the program's single-season top-10 list. Kody Clayton (Cary, N.C.) seized six steals for the second-straight game while Rival Axselle (Mechanicsville, Va.) pitched in a dozen points and eight rebounds.
 
After Dorian Davis exploded against Guilford back in January, it was Ellis Wright's turn on Saturday unloading 37 points on 12-of-18 overall and 6-for-9 from three. Davis himself was solid with 17 points in a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds. Landon Russ rounded out double-digit scorers with 10 points to go with a game-high five assists plus three blocks.
 
In the early going, it looked like the Quakers were going to run away with this one, pilling up a swift 15-5 lead just over five minutes in, but instead of keeping the pedal on the metal as they have at times this season, they allowed the Hornets right back in it with 12 unanswered and this one would be a dogfight for the remainder of the half. Neither side got beyond five points the rest of the stanza with the hosts getting the final burst to take a 38-34 lead into the half.
 
The knock-down, drag-out affair continued into the second half as it remained at-most a two-possession game. The hosts just ended up having the final say as Russ made a basket with just-under two minutes remaining to grab a lead that SU would never surrender, making their free throws down the stretch for a 78-72 final.
 
GC will head to R-MC for the Quarterfinals round of the ODAC Tournament, tipoff time in Ashland is to be announced.
 
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