The 11th-ranked Guilford College men's basketball team opened the Old Dominion Athletic Conference schedule against preseason favorite and 2nd-ranked Hampden-Sydney College. A strong evening from behind the three-point line while crashing the boards, the Quakers were able to topple the Tigers, 80-71. 

"Just a huge team effort, and team win tonight," said head coach Tom Palombo. "I couldn't be prouder of what they did out there."

Leading the way for the Quakers was Rob Littlejohn with 21 points as he went 6-10 from the field with four of them coming from distance. 

Out of the gate, Guilford (6-0, 1-0) jumped out to an 8-0 lead with threes from Littlejohn and Luke Proctor. Hampden-Sydney (5-1, 1-1) got its offense going and with a three of its own, tied the game at 17 with 12:19 on the clock.

The Quakers went on another 8-0 run with two three-point makes off the hand of Littlejohn. The long ball kept falling for the home squad as Littlejohn and Gabe Proctor made two more to open an 11-point advantage (31-20) with 6:57 left in the first.

Being ranked second in the nation for a reason, the Tigers clawed back and cut the deficit to five (31-26) with over a minute left. Tyler Dearman made two free throws late to hold a 33-26 edge going into the locker room.

In the second half, the heavyweight battle commenced as both teams went back-and-forth. Two made shots by Hampden-Sydney's Davidson Hubbard pulled the visiting side within four (42-38). 

As the Tigers' fan base started to get loud, Gabe Proctor nailed a deep three-point shot to ignite the Guilford fans in the Ragan-Brown Field House. The seesaw affair continued until the Quakers scored nine of the next 12 points to go ahead 59-48 with 9:22 left in regulation.

The Tigers continued to battle back and were able to knock down the difference to five (64-59). With 3:45 on the clock, Dearman stole the ball at midcourt, drove to the basket, spun and laid the ball in drawing a foul and completed a three-point play.

Down the stretch, Hampden-Sydney kept trying to cut down the margin but free throws became vital. Over the final 90-plus seconds, Guilford went 8-11 from the line and secured the nine-point victory.

"We knew they would just keep coming at us and we couldn't let up," Palombo said. "They're a pretty good team," he said of Hampden-Sydney. "But you know we've got a pretty good team too. We showed that tonight."

Dearman finished the evening with 19 points with six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Both Luke and Gabe Proctor finished with double-digit points with 12 and 11, respectively. The Quakers also won the rebounding margin, 33-24, with 17 offensive boards compared to six for the Tigers.

Guilford travels to Roanoke College on Wednesday, December 6. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

-- Contributions by Robert Bell, Assistant Director of Communications & Marketing --