HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA (December 9, 2009)—In front of one of the best crowds in recent history, Hampden-Sydney had #7 Guilford College down eight at halftime, but could not quite hold on falling 77-72. Guilford's Rhett Bonner had 19 points in the second half to lift the Quakers to victory. SeniorTurner King (Roanoke, VA/Roanoke Catholic) again led the Tigers with 13 points.

Each team started the game on the offensive with the squads trading buckets for the first three minutes. Down 7-6, Guilford scored five unanswered to go up 11-7 before a Ben Jessee (Midlothian, VA/Cosby)layup cut the lead back to 11-9. The Quakers made another run, going up 18-11 at the 11:39 mark.

The composed Tigers, however, came back to tie the game at 20 with a Jonathan Mudd (Miami, FL/American) jumper.

Neither team could pull away and at the 6:08 mark; the score was tied again at 26. Hampden-Sydney then used the final five minutes to push its lead.

The Tigers hit three straight three pointers, broken up by a Tyler Sanborn dunk to go up 35-28. Martin Stephenson cut the lead to five, but Mudd hit a big trey with 30 seconds to play to give the Tigers a 38-30 lead at intermission.

To start the second half, Jessee knocked down another three to give the Tigers their biggest lead of the night at 41-30. Guilford gained some momentum on a Gabriel Lowder jumper and went on a 12-2 run over a two and a half minute span to bring the game to 43-42.

Junior Colin O'Neill (Fort Leavenworth, KS/Fort Leavenworth) hit back-to-back shots to give Hampden-Sydney a 47-42 cushion, but Clay Henson and Bonner hit two big triples and a Sanborn dunk brought the game to a 50-50 tie with just over 12 minutes to play.

Bonner got hot, hitting two more consecutive three's to put his squad up 56-51. Hampden-Sydney again chipped into the lead, and Harrison George (Raleigh, NC/Leesville) hit a three pointer to put the Tigers down 60-59 with just over six minutes.

Guilford pulled away via a 8-2 run, but Hampden-Sydney was not finished.

Down 68-61 with 4:03 to play, King, Jessee and George all made clutch shots putting the Tigers within two with just two minutes to play.

Hampden-Sydney, with plenty of momentum, was on the verge of defending the Quakers for a full 35 seconds, but Rhett Bonner, fading away as the shot clock was winding down, hoisted up a turn-around three pointer that banked in to give Guilford a 73-68 lead with just over a minute.

Guilford was able to convert its foul shots down the stretch, advancing to a 77-72 victory.

Guilford won the battle of the boards with 34 rebounds to Hampden-Sydney's 26. Guilford was also perfect from the free throw line going 14-of-14, while the Tigers went 14-of-21. Hampden-Sydney was 48.9% from the floor on 23-of-47 shooting while the Quakers were 27-59 (45.8%).

Joining King in double figures were O'Neill (12), Jessee (11), Karlis Trops (Riga, Latvia/Charlotte Latin) and George (10 each). George was 4-of-4 from the field while adding a team-high six rebounds.

Bonner led all scorers with 28 points, while Lowder pitched in 14 and Henson and Sanborn each had 12 points. Sanborn recorded a double-double with 11 rebounds.

With the loss, Hampden-Sydney falls to 4-3 on the year and 1-1 in the ODAC.

Hampden-Sydney will return to action next Thursday as it heads to Danville, VA to play Averett University on December 17. Tip off is set for 7:00 pm.