Men's Basketball Release (2005-06) - Strong and Snipes Named All-ODAC Men's Basketball - Guilford College

GUILFORD'S BEN STRONG EARNS FIRST TEAM ALL-ODAC HOOPS HONORS

Salem, VA (2/16/06) -- Sophomore Ben Strong became Guilford College's first men's basketball student-athlete to earn First Team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) honors Friday night at the league's men's basketball banquet at the Salem Civic Center. Teammate Jordan Snipes garnered honorable mention recognition.

Guilford has had 11 second team All-ODAC men's basketball selections since joining the league in 1991-92, but no first teamers before this season. Strong, a 6-10 center, leads the league in scoring (18.7 ppg.) and blocked shots (1.84 bpg.). He earned the league's Player of the Week Award a conference-best three times this season, a first for a Guilford student-athlete. Strong owns Guilford's Division III single-season scoring record with 468 points this year and needs three blocks to break his own school Division III single-season blocks mark set in 2005. He has led Guilford's scorers in 16 of 25 games and has a team-high four double-doubles this year. Strong hit for a career-high 30 points in the Quakers' 109-106 victory over Emory & Henry Jan. 18.

      Snipes made national headlines last year with his 85-foot basket at the buzzer in Guilford's overtime win at Randolph-Macon. This year Snipes has distinguished himself as the Quakers' top scorer from the perimeter. He ranks second to Strong with a 13.6 points per game scoring average. The 6-4 junior guard leads Guilford with 40 three-pointers and 27 steals and his 62 assists rank second on the club. Snipes stands among the ODAC's best in scoring (8th), assists (11th), free-throw percentage (8th), three-point field goal percentage (14th) and three-pointers (14th). He hit for a season-high 31 points in the Quakers' Jan. 14 win at Eastern Mennonite.

      Strong and Snipes have helped coach Tom Palombo's Quakers (12-13, 10-8 ODAC) to the fourth seed in this weekend's ODAC Men's Basketball Tournament at the Salem Civic Center. Guilford meets fifth-seeded Emory & Henry Saturday in a 3:00 p.m. quarterfinal matchup. A victory moves the Quakers into Sunday's semifinals for the second straight season against the winner of Saturday's Virgina Wesleyan-Eastern Mennonite quarterfinal.