Ben Strong Lands Weekly Honors
Greensboro, N.C. (12/10/07) -- The Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) selected Guilford College's Ben Strong as its Men's Basketball Player of the Week Monday for the week ending Dec. 9. He has captured the ODAC's weekly prize 10 times in his career, twice this season. Strong also received his second straight Guilford Student-Athlete of the Week Award, presented by the school's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
Strong, a 6-11 senior center, averaged 28.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in the Quakers’ 2-0 week. He shared game-high scoring and rebounding honors with 21 points and 10 boards in the Quakers’ 74-48 over Methodist University Dec. 5. Strong netted a game- and season-high 35 points, plus 12 rebounds, in Guilford's 91-80 win at North Carolina Wesleyan College Dec. 8. He scored 25 points in the second half, which helped the Quakers rally from a six-point halftime deficit. Strong scored 30 or more points for the ninth time in his career and moved into eighth place on Guilford’s career scoring list with 1,629 points. He also climbed into 11th among the school’s career rebounding leaders (671).
Through five games, Strong leads the ODAC in scoring (27.0 ppg.) and rebounding (11.2 rpg.). He also stands fourth in the league in blocks (1.20 bpg.) and 10th in field-goal percentage (.564) and assists (3.0 apg.). Strong has four double-doubles on the year, which gives him 27 for his career.
Coach Tom Palombo's Quakers (4-1) have won three straight games and are ranked seventh in the Dec. 2 D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll. After a break for final exams, Guilford visits Shenandoah University Dec. 17 in a nonconference game at 7:00 p.m.
The Student-Athlete of the Week Award is presented by Guilford's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which is comprised of representatives from each of the school's 16 varsity teams. The group meets regularly to discuss the state of Guilford Athletics and seeks to build community among the school's student-athletes and non-student-athletes. Recent Guilford SAAC activities include canned food drives, assistance with the North Carolina Special Olympics and tutoring at New Garden Friends School.