Strong's 59 Carries Quakers to NCAA Elite Eight
Virginia Beach, Va. (3/9/07) - Ben Strong scored an NCAA Division III Tournament-record 59 points, including the winning free throw with 14 seconds left in the third overtime of Guilford College’s 129-128 win over Lincoln (Pa.) University in the Batten Center.
With its 10th win in 11 games, Guilford (24-4) advances to play Virginia Wesleyan College (25-4), an 81-55 winner over Mississippi College in Friday's second sectional game. The Old Dominion Athletic Conference rivals will meet for the third time this season Saturday (3/10) in the Batten Center at 7:00 p.m. to play for a trip to the NCAA Division III Final Four.
Strong’s performance stands second in NCAA men’s basketball championships history only to Austin Carr’s 61-point showing in Notre Dame’s first-round win over Ohio March 7, 1970. The 6-11 junior center also broke David Smith’s ''71 Guilford record of 50 points set versus Atlantic Christian in 1971.
Strong had 24 points in the three overtime periods, including 11 in the second extra stanza. His 17-foot jumper with 2.8 seconds left in the second overtime tied the game at 120-120. He made 10-of-11 field goals and four-of-five free throws in the extra 15 minutes.
Strong’s dunk with 1:52 remaining in the third extra frame opened a 126-123 Guilford lead, but the Lions (20-9) tied the game for the 14th and final time on an Earl Miller three-pointer with 28 seconds left. With four Lincoln students already disqualified with five fouls, Guilford pounded the ball inside to Strong again. He drew 6-7 sophomore Brandon Wilchcombe’s fifth foul and made the first of two free throws to change the lead for the 21st and final time of the game.
Lincoln had two shots in the final 14 seconds, but Strong prevailed at the defensive end. Strong’s blocked Sami Wylie’s runner with five seconds left, but he could not maintain possession of his fourth rejection. The ball caromed off of Strong over the end line with 3.4 seconds left. The Lions inbounded the ball to leading scorer Tyreek Byard, who dribbled the ball off his leg before recovering in the lane and heaving an errant shot through traffic, which Strong corralled as time expired for his game-high 17th rebound.
Guilford senior Jordan Snipes made the second most-memorable shot of his career to force overtime with a banked 30-footer at the regulation horn. Unlike his buzzer-beating 85-foot game-winner in 2005, this trifecta merely tied the game at 97-97. Thomas Lahart’s jumper three seconds earlier gave Lincoln a brief 97-94 edge.
Snipes finished with 22 points and career-high 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the year. Freshman Justin Strickland tallied 12 points off the bench and Eric Belkoski finished with 10 points before leaving the game with cramps in overtime.
The Lions, who lost to Virginia Wesleyan in the third round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament on a buzzer-beater, concluded their final NCAA Division III men’s basketball season. Lincoln moves to Division II next year. Miller and Dante Blanton shared team-high scoring honors with 28 points apiece and combined for 11 of Lincoln’s 14 three-pointers. Byard finished with 19 points and Dwight Dean added 18 points and six boards before fouling out with 2:20 left in the game.
Guilford’s 24-4 standard matches that of the 1974-75 team for the best 28-game mark in school history. The Quakers’ 24 wins are the most since the 1972-73 NAIA national champions went 29-5.
-Action photo courtesy of Gary Brittain.