GREENSBORO, N.C. – The sixth-seeded Guilford College Men's Basketball Team (18-8) rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to defeat #11 Emory & Henry College (4-21), 70-60, in the first round of the 2013 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament, Tuesday evening at Ragan-Brown Field House.
With the victory, the Quakers advance to face Randolph-Macon College on Friday evening at 8:00 p.m. in the tournament quarterfinals at Salem Civic Center.
The two squads traded baskets back and forth for the first five minutes of the contest. Emory & Henry went on a 6-1 run to open up a 15-9 lead with 11:49 on the clock and pushed its advantage to 10 (28-18) with 2:05 to go before the half. The Wasps took a 31-22 lead into the locker room.
After the break, Guilford came out ready to play. The Quakers went on an 8-0 run to trim the margin to 36-34 with 12:44 on the clock. A three-pointer by Matt McCarthy at the 9:17 mark gave GC its first lead since the 18:32 mark of the first half, 42-41.
The Quakers opened up a 10-point lead thanks to a 16-2 run over a period of 4:19 of the second half. Emory & Henry would trim the lead to five, but got no closer as Guilford led by as much as 16 (69-53) down the stretch. The Wasps closed the gap to the final 70-60 margin with a 7-1 run in the last 37 second of the ballgame.
Matt McCarthy had 17 points, all in the second half and added four assists and three rebounds. McCarthy hit a game-high five three-point baskets to propel the Quakers to the win. Jake Hopkins had 17 points and nine rebounds while Will Freeman and Jarred Hinton chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively.
As a team, Guilford shot 44.8 percent (26-for-58) for the game and hit 16-of-29 (55.2%) of their shots in the second half. The Quakers hit a blistering seven-of-10 three-pointers in the final 20 minutes of play.
Emory & Henry was paced by freshman guard Myles Turner (Richmond, Va.) with a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds to complete the double-double. Sophomore guard Tyler Driver (Alexandria, Va.) had 13 points as he connected on four shots from long range. Junior forward Charles Smith (Fayetteville, N.C.) posted 12 points and six rebounds off the bench.
For the game, the Wasps shot 21-for 47 (44.7%) from the field and held a 38-30 advantage on the boards. E&H suffered from 24 turnovers, which allowed GC to score 33 points.
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