SALEM, Va. -- In the last quarterfinal matchup of the day, the no. 3 Guilford College men's basketball team took on no. 6 Virginia Wesleyan at the Salem Civic Center. Despite a hard fought second period, they could not muster enough to overcome the Marlins, and fell by a seven-point margin, 67-60. 

Guilford exits the ODAC tournament and awaits their fate for the NCAA Division III tournament. Virginia Wesleyan advances to the conference semifinals, where they will face no. 2 Hampden-Sydney on Saturday, February 24.

GC struggled to keep pace with their opponents, shooting under 36% from the field compared to VWU's 50% clip. On virtually the same number of three-point attempts, Guilford made eight to Virginia Wesleyan's ten. The Marlins reigned supreme in the bench points margin, with 25 to Guilford's seven. 

ODAC Player of the Year Tyler Dearman (Greensboro, N.C.) scored a game-high 26 points. Caleb Farrish (McLeansville, N.C.) was the only other Quaker with double figures, scoring 11. Julius Burch (Greensboro, N.C.) achieved a near double-double with eight points and nine rebounds. 

For the Marlins, Khai Seargeant led his team with 16 points, and dished the ball for seven assists. Jordan Crump and Paul Anderson scored 15 and 14 points, respectively. 

Much like the previous meeting in Virginia Beach, the Marlins began the contest hot from beyond the arc; making three in the game's first eight minutes, while the Quakers were held to just three made field goals. VWU led by nine at this point, 15-6. 

Guilford eventually settled in, finding their pace and matching the offensive flow of Virginia Wesleyan. After going down as large as 14 at around the seven minute mark, Guilford found their way back to a ten-point deficit. Baskets from Farrish, Rob Littlejohn (Columbus, Ohio), Gabe Proctor (Apex, N.C.) and Burch brought the score to 30-20 just a few minutes later. 

The Marlins kept their foot on the gas, making all but one of their six field goal attempts down the stretch, including not missing from outside the three-point line. On the other side, the Quakers were stone-cold, making only one three in the last five minutes of the front 20. Burch's layup with four seconds remaining made the score 44-25, heading into the locker rooms. 

At the end of the first stanza, this marked the largest half-time deficit that Gulford has faced this season, 19 points.

Down, but not out, Guilford began a rally in the second half, going on a 10-2 run to cut Virginia Wesleyan's lead to just 11, with over 15 minutes left. The run was halted by a Marlin and-one to bring their lead back to 14.

Both squads went scoreless for the next few minutes, until Dearman made a crucial layup, and made a free throw to reduce VWU's lead to 11. He scored his second consecutive and-one, with time heading under the ten-minute mark. Guilford fought back, the score now 49-41. 

The Quakers were thriving in crunch time as the half progressed. VWU fought to extend their lead, but scores from duo Dearman and Farrish made the Marlin's lead only seven, 53-46.

Dearman was on fire heading into the game's final minutes, making just his second three-pointer to cut the deficit to only six. After this, both teams traded three-point makes, including Luke Proctor's (Apex, N.C.) first beyond the arc score. VWU led 62-56 with just over three minutes left. 

With under two minutes remaining, Dearman drove in the paint for a layup for his 23rd and 24th points, lowering the Marlins' lead to only four. The Quakers got within two possessions multiple times within the final two and a half minutes, but their efforts were to no avail, as their first-half woes condemned them to the 67-60 defeat. 

The Quakers will now spend the weekend scoreboard watching, with their seasons' hopes in the hands of the NCAA Selection Committee. Selection show airs on NCAA.com on Monday, February 26 at 1:00 p.m.