GREENSBORO, N.C. – Sophomore Josh Pittman hit five three-pointers on the way to a game- and career-high 23 points in Guilford College's 75-60 basketball win over McMurry University Friday night.
The win capped the opening night of Guilford's Hilton Garden Inn Invitational and sent the Quakers (2-1) into Saturday's tournament final against Emory University (2-0), a 75-57 winner over Averett University in Friday's opener. The consolation game between McMurry (1-1) and Averett (1-2) tips off at 3:00 p.m. It will be followed by Guilford and Emory in the final. Both games will be played in the Ragan-Brown Field House on Guilford's campus.
The physical nightcap featured 47 fouls between the two teams, as well as eight ties and six lead changes. Pittman's 16 first-half points gave Guilford a 35-31 halftime edge, but McMurry opened the second half with a 7-3 run that tied the score at 38-38 with 14:13 remaining.
Guilford opened a brief cushion by scoring the next eight points, but McMurry rallied to within 46-43 on a traditional three-point play by Steven Johunkin with 10:43 left. Johunkin was the only player on his team who scored a field goal for the next nine minutes as the Quakers outscored their guests 20-5. Guilford iced the game by making 15-of-16 free throws in the final two minutes.
The Quakers' Travis Tracy scored a career-high 12 points, thanks to seven-of-nine free-throw shooting. Senior T.C. Anderson also had seven free throws and finished with nine points, plus a game-high four assists. Junior Brad Monroe scored all six of his points at key moments in the second half and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Chris Hergenreter paced McMurry with 14 points. Johunkin and Jaden Isler both finished with 12 points and Teddy Chambers notched a double-double with 11 markers and a game-best 11 rebounds.
McMurry, which has an exhibition win over NCAA Division I Houston Baptist University, managed 37 percent field-goal shooting and turned the ball over 15 times, compared to Guilford's 42 percent shooting and eight turnovers.
In Friday's opener, Alex Gulotta drained seven three-pointers and scored a game-high 23 points in Emory's 75-57 win over Averett.
Gulotta made all five second-half shots, including four three-pointers, and scored 14 points in the final 20 minutes. He knocked down two of the Eagles' four trifectas during a 14-1 burst midway through the period that broke the game open. Averett had whittled a 12-point second-half deficit down to five with 13:07 left. Gulotta's final three of the game capped Emory's decisive burst, which created a 62-44 advantage with 9:11 remaining.
Emory's Michael Friedberg added 15 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. He scored 11 points in the first half. Sophomore Alex Greven scored all nine of his points before halftime and added a game-high 10 rebounds and three assists. Justin Resnick contributed three triples off the bench and finished with nine points.
Victor Cortes led three Averett students in double-figure scoring with 13 points. Justin Pierce finished with 11 and Marquis Scott added 10 points and a team-best nine rebounds.