The Guilford basketball season ended over spring break with a pair of early elminations from the ODAC tournament and a surprise run in the NCAA tournament. Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams were defeated in the first round of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament in Salem, Va. The men, ranked second in the ODAC tournament, were upset by Bridgewater with an 88-78 loss, but were still invited to the NCAA tournament, and the women were defeated 75-49 by Virginia Wesleyan.

“The girls fell behind early in their first game and scrambled back to get within six at halftime . but I think we exerted too much energy in the first half getting back into the game, and Virginia Wesleyan was able to pull away,” sports information director Dave Walters said.

The VWC Marlins came out strong and built a 32-15 advantage, which the women were able to beat back to 37-31 before halftime. Strong defensive play on behalf of the Marlins protected their lead to finish ahead of the Quakers.

“The kids came back after our playoff loss and played pick-up the next day because they missed basketball,” said women’s coach Stephanie Flamini via e-mail. “That is the first time I have seen that happen at Guilford College.”

Similarly, Bridgewater came out strong against the Quaker men, leading 45-21 at halftime. The Quakers chipped away at the lead with three-pointers, but they could not close the gap.

“That was a surprise and also disappointing. We were seeded second in the tournament and we were playing seventh-seeded Bridgewater. We’d just beaten Bridgewater handily in their own gym a couple weeks before . maybe that was part of the reason we came out as flat as we did,” Walters said. “Bridgewater was ready, they had a good plan. They made their shots and put us in a big hole. We pulled it to six points within five minutes of the game, but just couldn’t get it in any closer.”

When asked about their plans for next season, Flamini said, “The team will be starting their own postseason workouts after spring break (not mandatory), and they are excited about the future. So I think what they took away from this year is obviously a ton of experience and a taste of the playoffs.”

After the ODAC defeat, the Quaker men were pleasantly surprised to discover that they had been invited to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

“When we got the call that we were going to get the bid for the tournament, we kind of had a little heart-to-heart about things, and we played in the NCAA tournament with a tremendous amount of heart, desire, and passion,” said coach Tom Palombo. “Our guys just played with such a sense of purpose. We knew exactly what we wanted to do, and we just went out and executed extremely well.”

They defeated Manhattanville 101-81, Johns Hopkins 80-73, and Lincoln University 129-128 in a dramatic triple overtime. The Quakers fought hard against Virginia Wesleyan College last Saturday, but were defeated 81-71.

“[Lincoln] was the most intense game I’ve ever been a part of,” said Palombo. “Hopefully we’ll take this experience and use it as motivation for the off-season. We lost in the Elite Eight game; you don’t get to start next season and play that game over again, you have to start all over from the very beginning. The journey is what makes it fun, but we’ve got to make sure we prepare ourselves for that, because it’s going to be even tougher next year.