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Ryan Clements scored a season-high 20 points, including 18 in the second half, and senior Davidson Hubbard added 17 points and eight rebounds, but No. 2 Hampden-Sydney College (H-SC) lost the first game of its road trip 80-71 to Guilford College (GC). 

The visiting Tigers (5-1, 1-1 ODAC) fell for the first time this season while trailing the entire contest, including 33-26 at halftime against the host Quakers (6-0, 1-0 ODAC), who were led by Rob Littlejohn with a game-high 21 points and Tyler Dearman with 19 points. 

“Rebounding was the name of the game today and we got bullied on the glass,” said Tigers head coach Caleb Kimbrough. “It’s one thing to say what you need to do to win and another thing to go out there and do it. Today we didn’t do it and we lost because of it. Hopefully this will be a good learning tool for our team moving forward.” 

BREAKING DOWN THE GAME 

In a battle of two highly ranked teams, GC took an early 8-0 advantage at 17:26, getting a pair of quick three-point field goals, including one by Littlejohn. H-SC battled back with a 12-4 run to tie the contest at 12-12 with 13:45 on the clock after a three-pointer from fifth-year team captain Miles Harris off the bench, with senior Alex Elliott also adding a three-pointer during the run. It was tied at 17-17 following a three-pointer by Hubbard at 12:19, but the Quakers responded with eight unanswered points during a 14-3 run to lead 31-20 with 6:57 left in the half-making four three-pointers-two by Littlejohn. The Tigers scored six unanswered points and were within 31-26 at 1:03 after a one-handed slam dunk by Hubbard, but the home team led 33-26 at the intermission. 

H-SC started fast in the second half with Clements scoring six quick points via an old-fashioned three-point play, followed by a three-pointer to close to within 37-32 at 17:54, and six-straight points by Hubbard had the Garnet & Grey within 42-38 with 15:14 remaining. The Tigers were still within 50-45 at 13:09 after a three-pointer from senior DJ Wright off the bench, and a three-pointer by Clements made it 53-48 at 11:52. The Quakers answered with six-straight points to push their lead back to double-digits at 59-48 with 9:22 on the clock. H-SC made another run behind three-pointers from Elliott, senior team captain Adam Brazil and Harris, before a jumper by Hubbard had the visitors within 64-59 with 5:00 left to play. Unfortunately, that was as close as it would get as GC answered nearly every scoring possession by the Tigers down the stretch, the last a three-pointer by Brazil to get within 77-71 with only 20-seconds on the clock toward the final margin. 

BY THE NUMBERS 

Clements led H-SC with his season-high 20 points (8-10 FGs, 2-3 3FGs, 2-3 FTs), including 18 in the second half, adding three assists. Hubbard finished with his 17 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers. Elliott contributed 11 points, including eight in the first half. Harris had eight points (2-3 3FGs) off the bench, while Brazil added six points and a game-high six assists. H-SC shot 53% (28-53) from the field, including 46% (11-24) on three-pointers, and 80% (4-5) at the free throw line. 

Littlejohn led GC with his game-high 21 points, including 4-8 three-pointers. Dearman finished with his 19 points, adding six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Luke Proctor and Gabe Proctor added 12 points and 11 points, respectively. The Quakers shot 45% (25-56) from the field, including 40% (12-30) on three-pointers, and 67% (18-27) at the line. GC outrebounded H-SC 33-24, including 17 offensive rebounds for a 19-6 advantage in second chance points, while also enjoying an 18-4 advantage in points at the charity stripe.