GREENSBORO, N.C. -- It was a memorable afternoon at the Ragan-Brown Field House, as the Guilford College men's basketball honored their graduate students and senior coaches on Senior Day. The Quakers closed their regular season slate with a dominant 35-point victory, 77-42 over Bridgewater College.
Guilford, locked in as the no. 3 seed in the upcoming ODAC tournament, finished their season 22-3, 13-3 in conference play. Bridgewater, with the loss, drops to the no. 7 seed, with a final regular season record of 16-9, 9-7 against conference foes.
Unlike Wednesday's game, the Quakers were comfortable offensively, shooting just under 48% from the field, and over 39% from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, their defense reigned supreme, as GC held BC to under 27% shooting, their second worst clip this season. Guilford dominated in the steals margin, winning 11-3, and also capitalized off turnovers overall, scoring 26 points off them compared to Bridgewater's two.
Tyler Dearman (Greensboro, N.C.) finished his stellar regular season campaign with 18 points, tallying five steals in the victory. Off the bench, Gabe Proctor (Apex, N.C.) scored 14, making four-of-seven threes.
Julius Burch (Greensboro, N.C.) manned the paint with eight rebounds, surpassing double-digit scoring with ten, adding four assists as well. Dawson Edwards (Durham, N.C.) was the fourth Quaker in double-figures, with a career high ten points to go along with tenacious defense.
Alec Topper led the visiting Eagles with ten points, and also topped the rebounding column with eight.
Tied at 9-9 with over 13 minutes to play in the first half, the Quakers went on a 9-0 run over the following two minutes to take a 16-7 lead. Dearman's two consecutive layups, and a three pointer from Gabe Proctor helped the offensive push.
The Eagles made things uncomfortable for the Quakers just three minutes later, shrinking the home side's lead to just one, 18-17, but Guilford kept their foot on the gas to open up a ten-point gap heading into the locker rooms. Two beyond-the-arc makes from Edwards led the charge, as GC led 33-23.
GC made sure their lead stayed secure, going on one of their best offensive stretches of the season, spanning half of the second stanza. In this time frame, the Quakers shot 8-for-15 from the field, and held the Eagles to just two total field goals, ballooning the game to 25 points. Guilford led 54-29 at this point, and never looked back.
As the benches began to empty late in the second, Kody Clayton (Cary, N.C) starred with five points, very comfortably wrapping up the 25-point victory for the Quakers. Their 22 regular season victories are the most since the 2018-19 season, where GC progressed all the way to the NCAA Division III Quarterfinals.
Despite the large victory, the Quakers only made four-of-five from the charity stripe, making it a season low.
With the no. 3 seed secure, GC takes their talents to the 2024 ODAC Men's Basketball tournament at Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va. First up, Guilford faces off against no. 6 seed Virginia Wesleyan on Thursday, February 22 in the evening contest. Tip off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
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