Written by: Bryce Johnson, Director of Athletic Communications
MISENHEIMER, N.C. – Nick Farrar (Apex, N.C.) netted 17 points while Caleb Furr (Warrenton, Va.) and Chase Ellis (Douglasville, Ga.) also contributed double-digits scoring in their Quakers debut for the No. 17 nationally ranked Guilford College men's basketball team who ran away with an 85-72 season-opening victory over Pfeiffer University at Merner Gym on Friday night.
With the win, GC wins their third-straight season-opener and scoop their fourth-consecutive victory over the Falcons, improving to 1-0. PU starts the season 0-1.
The Quakers poured in 85 points on the night, a threshold they would not eclipse until the NCAA Tournament last season, reaching that mark by shooting 49.2% from the field and 39.1% from range. The hosts were also efficient, connecting on their attempts at a 46.3% rate and hitting 10-of-21 threes, but a 17-10 differential in turnovers and 19-8 edge in points off them made the difference.
Farrar tallied his scoring output on 7-for-12 shooting, pairing them with eight rebounds, including three offensive, to match his career-best and the team-lead. Gabe Proctor (Apex, N.C.) finished with a career-high 20 points in the second start of his collegiate tenure, requiring just ten shots to get there making seven of them, including 4-of-5 from range. Caleb Farrish (McLeansville, N.C.) put up 11 points and three steals and Ellis added in ten tallies and three thefts as well. Furr was exceptional off the bench, rounding out GC double-digit scorers with 11 on 5-of-9 shooting. Luke Proctor (Apex, N.C.) was tied for the team lead with eight caroms and three steals.
Donte Forrester-Jhagroo lead Pfeiffer in scoring with 19 on 6-of-9 shooting and 4-of-6 from range. Daymon Beckwith and Doug Smith contributed 14 apiece and Alex Cunningham pitched in ten. Smith corralled a game-high nine rebounds while also leading PU in blocks, with three, and steals, with two, and Beckwith dished a contest-best four assists.
The Falcons came out of the gates fired up with Beckwith burying a triple before a steal, a layup, and another two at the rim made it 7-0 barely 60 seconds in. Guilford would settle in as the Proctor brothers each connected from range, although a Smith three temporarily slowed things. Five-consecutive Farrar tallies put the Quakers in front but a Smith jam countered. Both squads split a pair at the line and hit a trey ahead of the under-12 break, but a Furr layup for the guests gave them a 17-16 edge through eight.
GC came roaring out of the media break, a Farrar second-chance score, a Gabe Proctor two, an Ellis steal to a Farrish slam, and threes from Proctor and Bobby Samples (Brighton, Mich.) constituted an 11-0 run. Pfeiffer chipped into the deficit with three-straight three-point possessions, but a Farrish putback jam halted the run. The Quakers proceeded to incrementally increase their lead before Farrar corralled a loose ball and beat the buzzer to make the advantage double-digits at the half.
Guilford would work to maintain the lead into the second half with a Farrar floater and a Proctor make from distance to open the stanza extending the edge to 15 points, their largest of the contest to that point. That is around where the lead would remain up through the under-12 timeout, Pfeiffer did momentarily cut their defecit to single-digits, but the guests remained undeterred despite the raucous crowd at Merner Gym.
Into the final dozen minutes, GC turned the game into a blowout. Furr got it started with a layup followed by two at the rim and two at the line from Ellis. Dawson Edwards (Durham, N.C.) pitched in a pair before six-in-a-row from Farrar and another two pair by Ellis. All told, the Quakers pieced together a 16-4 stretch to make the lead 24 with five minutes to play. The Falcons would chip into it, getting within 11, but they never really threatened the rest of the way as the Quakers locked up the 85-72 season-opening win.
Guilford will hit Jack Jensen Court for their home-opener next, hosting North Carolina Wesleyan University on Wednesday, November 13th tipping off at 7 PM.
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