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Pride gets upset victory over Guilford

Thursday, November 29, 2007
(Updated Sunday, July 20, 2008 - 10:21 pm)

GREENSBORO -- For one night, Cameron Indoor Stadium had nothing on little Hanes Gym.

The annual game between the city's two Division III schools was played at an on-campus site for the first time since 1994, and host Greensboro upset the third-ranked Guilford Quakers 71-66.

A raucous, standing-room-only crowd of 849 packed the Pride's 800-seat gym with fans for both teams.

R.J. Smith, who started in place of injured point guard Michael McDuffie, scored a team-high 22 points and made just two turnovers in 32 minutes to lead Greensboro.

That offset another big night by Guilford big man Ben Strong. The 6-foot-11 senior center shot 13-for-19 from the floor and finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds.

The Pride won despite being out-shot and out-rebounded, prevailing because of defense, clutch 3-point shooting and a solid free-throw shooting.

"We definitely had to hit the boards," said Greensboro coach Bryan Galuski, whose team was out-rebounded by 10 in the first half. "We forced 16 turnovers. Coming into the game we wanted good defensive pressure on the perimeter and we did that. Overall it was a collective effort."

Greensboro (3-2) trailed by as many as eight points in the first half, but came back thanks to its 3-point shooting. Smith hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first half to cut Guilford's lead to one point.

"R.J. had to step up, and he's a gamer," Galuski said. "The effort that he displayed tonight and the numbers he put up were tremendous. A big-time game from a sophomore and there's more like that to come from him."

The Pride hit 10 of 23 shots from 3-point range. Smith had four, Bruce Zamuel three and freshman Adam Powell two.

"Bruce has been very solid for us," Galuski said, "and he has to shoot the basketball well to keep us in the game offensively. He did that and played great defense."

Those three players helped make up for an off night from Adam Nicholson, who came in averaging a team-high 23 points, but who finished with 12 points on 4-of-17 shooting.

But Nicholson did come up with a key play late in the second half with the Pride trying to hold off a charge by the Quakers (1-1). With under a minute to play, he came up with a steal and forced a foul.

Turnovers were a big factor in the loss for Guilford, as 16 turnovers led to 18 points for Greensboro.

"I don't know if 16 is accurate," Quakers coach Tom Palombo said. "I think it was quite a bit more than that. We had turnovers forced by their defense and turnovers that were senseless by us.

"We did not play well. You have to give them credit because they did play well. But we were not anywhere near our game."

The crowd was a factor, and Galuski compared the setting to a Division I game.

"I'm a big proponent for having the game on campus," Galuski said. "It's an electric atmosphere.

"This was a college basketball game. This is what you watch on television Saturday and Sunday. My hat's off to the administration for making it happen."

GUILFORD (1-1)--Strong 13-19 2-2 28; Belkoski 4-7 3-4 12; Henson 4-9 0-011; Kimbrough 1-7 1-2 4; Sanborn 2-4 0-0 4; Neville 1-2 2-2 4; Stephenson 1-1 0-0 2; Edmond 0-1 1-4 1; Anderson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-52 9-14 66.

GREENSBORO (3-2)--Smith 8-15 2-2 22; Zamuel 5-8 4-4 17; Nicholson 4-17 3-512; Powell 3-7 4-5 12; Sharpe 2-6 2-2 6; Tamini 1-20-0 2; Brown 0-0 0-0 0; Owenby 0-0 0-0 0; Mavoungou 0-2 0-0 0; Wright 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 23-61 15-18 71.

Halftime--Guilford 34-33. 3-point Goals--Guilford 5-15 (Henson 3-6, Belkoski 1-2, Kimbrough 1-5, Anderson 0-1, Neville 0-1); Greensboro 10-23 (Smith 4-7, Zamuel 3-4, Powell 2-5, Nicholson 1-5, Wright 0-2). Rebounds--Guilford 38 (Strong 12), Greensboro 30 (Sharpe 6). Assists--Guilford 5 (Kimbrough 3), Greensboro 11 (Nicholson 6). Fouls--Guilford 15, Greensboro 14. Technicals--Edmond. A--849.

Accompanying Photos

H. Scott Hoffmann (News & Record)

Photo Caption: Greensboro's Adam Nicholson (front) dives on a loose ball.

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