GREENSBORO, N.C. – Caleb Farrish (McLeansville, N.C.) had a breakout performance, matching his career-high with 20 points to lead a 72-51 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) victory over Washington & Lee University at Holekamp Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
The Quakers sent a resounding response in their follow-up to their disappointing midweek result, securing their fifth victory by 20-or-more points this season to improve to 12-4 and 6-2 against conference competition. W&L, meanwhile, continued to scuffle this winter, failing to crack 60 points in their fourth-consecutive game in league action to drop to 3-12 and 1-5 against ODAC opponents.
GC dominated from the opening tip, and while a second half dip in shooting percentages soured their final marks some, the guests still managed to finish with a .419 field goal percentage making 13 three pointers at a .384 rate. Defensively, they also held the Generals to a .353 field goal percentage and .375 percentage from range. Forcing lots of misses, the Quakers posted a season-high in rebounds with 48 as a team, including 18 on the offensive end, their most in a game since November.
Farrish was super-efficient on his way to matching his career-best scoring output, making 7-of-10 overall while also matching a career-high with six made threes, although this time he did it on seven attempts against 11 shots in his previous high. The senior forward also secured seven rebounds and sent back one block. Chase Ellis (Douglasville, Ga.) was fantastic in his return to the starting-five, scoring 13 points, his most since November, on 6-of-9 from the field while corralling a team-best eight caroms including five on the offensive end. Luke Proctor (Apex, N.C.) rounded out GC players in double-digits with 11 points. Gabe Proctor (Apex, N.C.) had an off-night shooting the ball, but still finished tied for the game high for assists with three.
Guiford's defense permitted just a single General to reach double figures as Connor Amorosi finished with ten points on 4-of-10 from the field. Colin Ryan stuffed the stat sheet with nine points and was tied for the game-high for both rebounds, with eight, and assists, with three. Bryce Breeden pitched in nine points in reserve.
The Quakers exploded out of the gates, scoring the game's initial ten points in short order on an Ellis layup, a Dawson Edwards (Durham, N.C.) second-chance trey, a Farrish triple, and a steal-to-score by Edwards forcing W&L to take a timeout not even four minutes in. Amorosi finally got them on the board with a make from range and on the other side of a Gabe Proctor layup, Breeden made a three, but Guilford led 12-6 into the first media timeout.
Washington & Lee cut it to four out of the break before a 9-1 outburst that featured a pair of Bobby Samples (Brighton, Mich.) threes created distance again. The hosts chipped away, not letting it get out of hand and staying in the three to four possession range and following the under-seven media timeout, they get back to within four. Farrish and Ryan traded baskets, although Farrish's was from range bringing the tallies to 30-25, but like how they opened the half, GC finished with a flurry, netting seven-straight including Farrish putting the finishing touches on his 12-point opening stanza, taking a 37-25 lead into the locker room.
Luke Proctor opened the second period with a three and Ellis made a two as GC completed a 12-0 run straddling the halftime break to open up the margin and W&L never really threatened again. Amorosi got the game to within 12 at one point, but a 12-3 run by the visitors got the advantage into the 20's and while the hosts got things under that threshold for a while, GC took a 20-point lead for good at the 6:54 mark. They built their lead to as much as 27 at one point, their largest in a road contest all season, before the tallies finalized at 72-51.
GC returns to Jack Jensen Court next, playing in their final non-conference game of the season when they host the University of Mary Washington on Wednesday, January 22. Tipoff will be 7:00 PM.
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