College Men’s Basketball Final – Guilford 64, Eastern Mennonite 48

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Jonny Rice scored a game-high 19 points and Matt McCarthy added 15 in Guilford College’s 64-48 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) basketball win over Eastern Mennonite University Saturday. Rice had 13 second-half points and McCarthy scored all 15 in the first half as the Quakers (15-4, 8-2 ODAC) won their sixth straight game.

McCarthy, who scored an ODAC- and career-high 44 in Wednesday’s win at Emory & Henry College, drained five three-pointers in the opening half. He connected from long range on three straight possessions during a 12-2 Quakers’ run that opened a 34-22 edge four minutes before halftime. Guilford held a 39-31 edge at intermission.

The Royals (13-6, 7-3 ODAC) hassled McCarthy on every second-half touch, which opened space inside for Rice, who made six-of-eight second-half field goals. Consecutive inside baskets by Rice started a 13-2 Guilford spurt over a six-and-a-half minute stretch of the second half. Cole Greene’s easy bucket off a Brandon Staves miss capped the burst and gave the Quakers a 53-35 edge with 11:31 left.

Guilford delivered one of its best defensive games of the season, limiting the Royals to 48 points, their fewest since December 17, 2012, and over 29 points shy of their season average (77.2). The Quakers’ threw a matchup zone at Eastern Mennonite, which helped limit the guests to six field goals and 17 points in the second half. The Royals managed four-of-18 (22.2%) three-point shooting and 35.2 percent field-goal shooting for the game. Guilford also owned the Royals on the glass, 44-30, and held Eastern Mennonite well shy of its ODAC-best 42.4 caroms per game average.

James Williams led Eastern Mennonite with 10 points. Senior center David Falk added nine, six before halftime, but had just five rebounds, more than seven shy of his league-leading average that ranked second in NCAA Division III.

Will Freeman scored eight points off the bench for the Quakers and Will Koppenhaver finished with seven. Guilford’s Zachary Houston totaled three points, nine rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Coach Tom Palombo’s Quakers are scheduled to visit league-rival Hampden-Sydney College Wednesday (2/4) at 7 p.m. The Tigers’ scheduled home game with Emory & Henry was postponed Saturday after the college was closed for three days due to widespread illness.

Eastern Mennonite vs Guilford
01/31/15 4:30 p.m. at Greensboro, NC – Ragan-Brown Field House
At Greensboro, NC – Ragan-Brown Field House

GUILFORD – 64
EASTERN MENNONITE – 48

EASTERN MENNONITE (13-6, 6-4 ODAC): James Williams 4-7 0-0 10; David Falk 4-7 1-7 9; Marcel Crump 4-9 0-2 8; Rashawn Latimer 1-1 2-2 4; Isaiah Harris-Winn 1-2 0-0 3; Jerome Jones 1-8 0-0 3; Woody Furbush 0-5 3-4 3; Christian Hansen 1-1 0-0 2; Ryan Yates 1-5 0-0 2; Blake Steele 1-2 0-0 2; Ej Baltimore 1-4 0-0 2; Nic Sulc 0-0 0-0 0; Maleke Jones 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 19-54 6-15 48.

GUILFORD (15-4, 8-2 ODAC): RICE, Jonny 8-13 2-4 19; McCARTHY, Matt 5-11 0-0 15; FREEMAN, Will 4-9 0-1 8; KOPPENHAVER, Will 3-9 1-2 7; HINTON, Jarred 1-1 1-2 4; STAVES, Brandon 2-3 0-2 4; GREENE, Cole 2-2 0-0 4; HOUSTON, Zachary 1-3 0-0 3; ROGERS, Jarrod 0-1 0-0 0; HYATT, Trever 0-4 0-0 0; JACKSON, Hunter 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-57 4-11 64.

Eastern Mennonite.............   31   17  -   48
Guilford......................   39   25  -   64

3-point goals–Eastern Mennonite 4-18 (James Williams 2-3; Isaiah Harris-Winn 1-2; Jerome Jones 1-6; Woody Furbush 0-1; Ryan Yates 0-1; Maleke Jones 0-3; Marcel Crump 0-2), Guilford 8-20 (McCARTHY, Matt 5-9; HINTON, Jarred 1-1; RICE, Jonny 1-2; HOUSTON, Zachary 1-2; ROGERS, Jarrod 0-1; HYATT, Trever 0-4; STAVES, Brandon 0-1).
Fouled out–Eastern Mennonite-None, Guilford-None.
Rebounds–Eastern Mennonite 30 (Blake Steele 6), Guilford 44 (HOUSTON, Zachary 9; RICE, Jonny 9).
Assists–Eastern Mennonite 8 (Ryan Yates 2; James Williams 2; Blake Steele 2), Guilford 12 (GREENE, Cole 2; HOUSTON, Zachary 2; ROGERS, Jarrod 2; HINTON, Jarred 2).
Total fouls–Eastern Mennonite 11, Guilford 15.
Technical fouls–Eastern Mennonite-None, Guilford-None.
A-601

Old Dominion Athletic Conference game
Time of Game: 1:31