HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA (November 28, 2009)—Hampden-Sydney picked up its first win tonight in the Main St. Lanes South Region Hoops Challenge as it defeated North Carolina Wesleyan College 90-79 to improve to 1-1 on the season. The Bishops could not handle the balanced attack of the Tigers, who had six players score in double figures.

Neither team could establish dominance early, with the teams tied at nine after four minutes of play. After a Lamont Stokes foul shot, however, the Bishops went on a 9-0 run finished with a Trey Drake lay up to take a 19-9 advantage.

Hampden-Sydney began to chip away at the lead, and after a Harrison George (Raleigh, NC/Leesville)lay up, the Tigers only trailed 28-24.

Over the next five minutes, Hampden-Sydney continued to fight back, and senior Karlis Trops (Riga, Latvia/Charlotte Latin) was able to tie the game at 36 with two free throws. Though Alonzo Frazier would give North Carolina Wesleyan a 38-36 advantage, Hampden-Sydney capped off the first half with 8-4 run to take a 44-42 lead into halftime.

The Tigers started out the second half with a bang when sophomore Ben Jessee (Midlothian, VA/Cosby) hit a three to start the stanza putting his team up 47-42. Hampden-Sydney extended its lead to 53-42, but the Bishops, behind six points from Drake, cut the lead to 59-55 with 14:17 to play.

Both teams continued to trade baskets for the next 10 minutes with the Tigers leading 73-68 at the 4:42 mark. Senior Turner King (Roanoke, VA/Roanoke Catholic) extended the lead to seven on a lay up, but Jarmel Arrington brought it back to five with a jumper.

North Carolina Wesleyan was able to cut the lead to as little as four at the 1:16 mark, but Hampden-Sydney finished the game solidly, going on a 11-0 run to push the lead to 88-77. Drake and Jessee traded foul shots to end the game.

Jessee and Drake led all scorers with 20 points a piece. King and Colin O'Neill (Fort Leavenworth, KS/Fort Leavenworth) each poured in 15 points while King pulled in a game-high nine rebounds. George added 13 points while Jonathan Mudd (Miami, FL/American) and Randall Ward (Richmond, VA/John Marshall) chipped in with 12 and 10 points respectively.

The Tigers dominated the battle of the boards out-rebounding the Bishops 43-30. Both teams shot very well with Hampden-Sydney knocking down 52.5% (31-59) of its shots and North Carolina Wesleyan shooting 43.3% (29-67).

In the second game of the night, Mary Washington defeated Shenandoah 68-61 behind 25 points from Brandon Altmann.

All four teams return to action tomorrow for the second day of the Main St. Lanes South Region Hoops Challenge. North Carolina Wesleyan and Mary Washington square off at 2:00 pm while the Tigers face Shenandoah at 4:00 pm.