College Men’s Basketball Finals – Concordia (Texas) 68, #18 Guilford 67 / Huntingdon 80, Hampden-Sydney 60

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Ben Page’s layup with 36 seconds gave Concordia (Texas) University a 68-67 basketball win over 18th-ranked Guilford College Friday night in the second game of the Daly Seven Tip-Off Classic. Huntingdon College topped Hampden-Sydney College, 80-60, in Friday’s opener in Guilford’s Ragan-Brown Field House.

Concordia’s Philip Meikle scored 12 of his game-high 16 points in the second half to rally the Tornados past Guilford (1-1). Teammate Joshua Samuels netted 11 of his 14 points in the final frame as Concordia erased a 17-point second-half deficit.

P.J. Stephens scored a team-high 14 points and Alston Thompson notched his second straight double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds) for the Quakers. Thompson’s basket 5:15 into the second half opened a 47-30 Guilford advantage.

Concordia used full-court defensive pressure and seven second-half three-pointers to mount its rally. The pressure gradually wore down the Quakers, who shot 2-for-11 from three-point range in the second half. Samuels had three of his game-high four triples in the second half and a Joe Neal three with 5:10 remaining in regulation gave the guests their first second-half lead.

The teams traded baskets down the stretch before the Tornados delivered a key stop on the Quakers’ final possession. Carson Long (10 points, 6 rebounds) missed a three-pointer with 11 seconds left, which teammate Jarrod Rogers (7 points, 5 assists) corralled and called time. After two Guilford timeouts, Rogers drove the lane against Concordia’s zone, but his shot would not fall. Thompson made a play off the rebound in traffic, but to no avail.

Concordia got 14 points off the bench from Ephriam Price. Meikle added six rebounds and five assists, both game highs.

The opening game saw former Guilford standout Caleb Kimbrough ’08 lead his Huntingdon (2-0) charges to their second win in three days, matching their win total of a year ago. Kimbrough, a four-year Quakers’ starter and former associate head coach, is in his first full season as the Hawks’ head coach.

T.C. Elmore buried all four first-half three-pointers and scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the opening frame for Huntingdon. The Hawks led by as many as 21 in the first half, before Hampden-Sydney rallied to within 38-29 at halftime. Aggressive defense and a balanced offense helped Huntingdon open a 24-point margin midway through the second half as the Tigers (0-2) struggled to find their shot.

Jaleel Beeman and Kyante Pines both finished with 11 points for the Hawks, who forced 17 turnovers. Isaiah King chipped in 10 points of the bench. Elmore and Pines share team-high rebounding honors with seven.

Will Sparks led three Tigers in double-figure scoring with 13 points. Kevin Quinn and Jake Furrow both scored 10.

The tournament concludes Saturday (11/17) as Hampden-Sydney plays Concordia at 4 and Guilford meets Huntingdon at 6.

Concordia (TX) vs Guilford
11/17/17 7:10 pm at Greensboro, NC – Ragan-Brown Field House
At Greensboro, NC – Ragan-Brown Field House

CONCORDIA (TX) 68
GUILFORD 67

CONCORDIA (TX) (1-0): Philip Meikle 5-12 5-6 16; Ephriam Price 5-16 1-2 14; Joshua Samuels 5-10 0-0 14; Gabriel Spivey 3-7 0-0 7; Joe Neal 2-5 1-2 6; Ben Page 1-7 2-2 4; Cory Smith 1-3 0-0 3; Sedrick Jennings 1-3 0-0 2; DeTarrius Kirk 1-3 0-0 2; Matthew Gregory 0-0 0-0 0; Chase Brooks 0-0 0-0 0; Christian Colston 0-0 0-0 0; Christopher Poe 0-0 0-0 0; Ronnie Hamilton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-66 9-12 68.
GUILFORD (1-1): STEPHENS, PJ 5-11 2-4 14; THOMPSON, Alston 5-8 3-4 13; LONG, Carson 4-8 2-2 10; ROGERS, Jarrod 3-6 1-1 7; CLEMONS, Corey 3-6 0-0 6; REYER, Mason 2-5 1-1 5; GREGORY, Kyler 1-2 3-4 5; CURRY, Marcus 1-5 2-2 4; HYATT, Trever 1-2 0-2 3; Logan, Joah 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 14-20 67.

Concordia (TX)................   25   43  -   68
Guilford......................   33   34  -   67

3-point goals – Concordia (TX) 11-35 (Joshua Samuels 4-9; Ephriam Price 3-10; Gabriel Spivey 1-2; Joe Neal 1-2; Philip Meikle 1-5; Cory Smith 1-2; Sedrick Jennings 0-1; Ben Page 0-4), Guilford 3-16 (STEPHENS, PJ 2-6; HYATT, Trever 1-2; LONG, Carson 0-3; CLEMONS, Corey 0-1; REYER, Mason 0-1; GREGORY, Kyler 0-1; Logan, Joah 0-1; THOMPSON, Alston 0-1).
Fouled out – Concordia (TX)-Joe Neal, Guilford-None.
Rebounds – Concordia (TX) 35 (Philip Meikle 6; Ben Page 6), Guilford 40 (THOMPSON, Alston 12).
Assists – Concordia (TX) 12 (Philip Meikle 5), Guilford 10 (ROGERS, Jarrod 5).
Total fouls – Concordia (TX) 21, Guilford 17.
Technical fouls – Concordia (TX)-None, Guilford-None.
A-750
2017 Daly Seven Tip-Off Classic – Game 2

[AFG_gallery id=’303′]