Randolph Stops Guilford in ODAC Tournament, 75-53

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SALEM, Va. – Junior Colton Hunt (Whittier, N.C./Smoky Mountain) scored a game-high 29 points in Randolph College's 75-53 upset of Guilford College Friday in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament game.

The victory in the Salem Civic Center sends the sixth-seeded WildCats (14-13) into a semifinal matchup with number-two Randolph-Macon College, a 99-91 overtime winner over Eastern Mennonite University. Third-seeded Guilford concludes its season with a 17-9 mark.

Hunt, a First Team All-ODAC guard, made three of his five three-pointers in the first half and helped the WildCats open a 31-20 halftime lead. Randolph made six of its 11 trifectas in the opening period and held Guilford to 29 percent field-goal shooting.

Guilford's shooting woes continued into the second half as the Quakers missed six of their first eight shots. Randolph opened the period on an 18-9 run to take a 49-29 lead on Chris Battaglia's (Smithfield, Va./Portsmouth) three-pointer six minutes into the period.

The WildCats' second-half lead grew to 21 before the Quakers got back to 12 points with 8:44 left on two Gabriel Lowder (Yadkinville, N.C./North Forsyth) free throws. Randolph scored the next six points and never looked back in their third win over Guilford in four games.

Hunt shot five-of-eight from three-point range and also had five rebounds, four assists and two steals for the WildCats. His 29 points was one shy of a career high. Battaglia made all three-pointers and finished with 15 points for Randolph, which shot 51.1% from the floor, including 11-of-21 (52.4%) from three-point land. Senior Derrick Woods-Morrow (Greensboro, N.C./Northeast Guilford) finished with eight points, six boards and a block.

Junior Josh Pittman (Archdale, N.C./Trinity) paced the Quakers with 15 points and made four three-pointers. Lowder finished with 12. Guilford managed just 31.6% shooting from the floor, five-of-19 from beyond the arc.

The loss marked the final game for Guilford's five seniors: Will Cloyd (Atlanta, Ga./St. Pius X), Gene Efird (Portsmouth, Va./Poquoson), Lowder, Brad Monroe (Asheboro, N.C./Eastern Randolph), and Justin Stafford (Winston-Salem, N.C./Calvary Baptist). The Quakers compiled an 89-28 record in their four seasons, made two trips to the NCAA Division III semifinals and won two ODAC titles.