SALEM, Va. – Freshman Jaylen Gore scored 13 second-half points in top-seeded Guilford College's 63-53 comeback win over Hampden-Sydney College, 63-53, in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament quarterfinal Thursday at the Salem Civic Center.
Gore, a 5-11 freshman guard, finished with a game- and career-high 16 points on five-of-eight field-goal shooting. Teammate Alston Thompson added 15 points, 10 in the second half, as the Quakers (21-5) overcame a nine-point first-half deficit.
The win sends Guilford into the ODAC Tournament semifinals for the second time in three seasons. The Quakers play fifth-seeded Virginia Wesleyan College, a 102-93 winner over number-four Lynchburg College in Thursday's second quarterfinal. The Salem Civic Center hosts the contest Saturday (2/25) at 1:00 p.m.
Malik Crute and Jack Duncan both made two of the Tigers' five first-half three-pointers as Hampden-Sydney (11-16) built a 27-16 first-half lead. The Tigers made four of their first five trifectas, while Guilford shot one-of-12 from beyond the arc in the opening half. Crute made both threes during a 13-5 Tigers' spurt over a six-minute span. Chaise Johnson's layup 3:27 before the half gave the number-eight seed its largest lead of the game, 26-17.
Guilford, ranked third among NCAA Division III scoring defense leaders, recommitted itself to defense in the second half. After Hunter Kuehn's layup on the Tigers' first second-half possession, Hampden-Sydney missed its next nine shots and committed three turnovers in six minutes. The drought enabled Guilford to rally as Gore's follow basket at the 13:46 mark tied the score at 29-29. Duncan answered at the other end with his third and final trey of the game, but momentum had clearly shifted to Guilford.
Another Johnson drive and layup gave the Tigers a 39-34 cushion with 12:20 to go, but Guilford's P.J. Stephens answered with a three-pointer at the other end. The teams traded free throws before Gore made two that tied the game for the fourth and final time at 36-36.Fueled by Gore, Thompson and Dominique Henderson, the Quakers built a five-point margin by scoring on eight-of-nine possessions, and netted 16 of the game's final 27 points.
Guilford's offensive rebounding proved critical as its 15 boards on the offensive end resulted in a 15-3 edge in second-chance points and overcame a subpar shooting day. The Quakers also converted 18 Tigers' turnovers into 17 points, while Hampden-Sydney had nine points from Guilford miscues.
Thompson added a game-high eight rebounds to his 15 points. Henderson netted seven second-half points to finish with nine, matching Long's scoring total. Point guard Zachary Houston contributed three points, six rebounds, five assists, four steals, a blocked shot and no turnovers in 32 minutes.
Crute's 12 points and six rebounds paced Hampden-Sydney, which shot 33% from the floor in the second half. Josh Katowitz had 10 points and seven boards off the bench and Duncan finished with nine in his final college contest.