GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Emory & Henry College Men's Basketball Team (12-10, 6-7 ODAC) got back on track with an 81-73 overtime victory over Guilford College (13-9, 8-5 ODAC) Wednesday at Ragan-Brown Field House. With 26 points on the night, junior guard Myles Turner (Richmond, Va.) became the newest member of E&H's 1,000-point club and now sits at 1,022 points for his career.
The game, which featured 18 ties and 14 lead changes, was played within five points either way for all but the final 10 seconds of overtime. Emory & Henry reached the largest lead of regulation for either team at the 3:45 mark of the first half, 35-30. The opening 20 minutes had 10 ties and eight lead changes alone as the Wasps hit 11 three-pointers en route to a 45-43 advantage at the intermission.
A 10-4 run to start the second half put the Quakers ahead, 53-49, with 15:13 on the clock. The blistering field goal percentages for both teams in the first half cooled, but the intensity of the game stay red hot as the two squads went back and forth for another seven ties and six lead changes. Guilford found itself down by one with 26 seconds to play but tied things up with a free throw, 67-67. E&H had the last shot in regulation to win, but couldn't get the layup to fall, forcing an extra five minutes of play.
In the overtime period, Turner scored the first five points for Emory & Henry for a 72-69 advantage. A pair of free throws for Guilford closed the gap back to one but sophomore guard John Shelor (Giles, Va.) put E&H up 75-71 with just over a minute to play. The Quakers went cold from the field for the final minute, missing five of their final six field goal attempts and the Wasps went six-for-six at the charity stripe to earn the hard-fought ODAC victory, 81-73.
Turner's season-high 26 came on nine-for-16 shooting including six three-pointers. He added three assists and two steals to lead all players. Shelor completed the game with 17 points while freshman guard Clif Conley (Galax, Va.) had 14 points, hitting five and four threes, respectively. Shelor added four rebounds and four assists. Freshman forward Aaron Ferguson (Princeton, W.Va.) had eight points while junior forward Brandon Self (Norfolk, Va.) pulled down nine boards to go along with five points.
As a team, the Wasps shot 43.5 percent (27-for-62) for the game, including a 16-for-32 (50%) mark from beyond the arc to outscore the Quakers, 48-12. E&H converted on 11-of-12 (91.7%) of its free throw attempts and led, 16-12, on points off turnovers.
Guilford placed three players in double figures with Alston Thompson's 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench leading the way. Will Freeman and Justen Best contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively, while Zachary Houston added seven points and seven boards. The Quakers outscored the Wasps, 32-14, in the paint, but could not make up for Emory & Henry's dead-eye shooting from long range.
E&H will return home on Saturday to take on Hampden-Sydney College in a key Old Dominion Athletic Conference matchup. Tipoff between the Wasps and Tigers is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
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-photo courtesy of Caleb Johnston, E&H '15