Basketball Squad Starts Season 2-1
by: Jarrod Ficklin ‘11
Senior guard Turner King helped the Tigers compete with Division I High Point University.
Hampden-Sydney fans certainly got a glimpse into the promising future of Tiger basketball in the squad’s return to the hard court. Crucial minutes and play from a group of solid freshman along with strong performances from familiar faces helped the Tigers start the 2009-2010 campaign on a solid note. The Tigers dropped their first contest of the year on the road at Division I High Point University by a score of 100-74, but they responded very well at home by sweeping the Main Street Lanes South Region Hoops Challenge, downing both North Carolina Wesleyan and Shenandoah.
The Tigers went into their clash with the Panthers of High Point University—a member of the Big South conference—as huge underdogs; however, the Tigers held their own before the Panthers pulled away in the 2nd half. Great defense and phenomenal rebounding kept the Tigers in the game for the first 23 minutes of the contest. Hampden-Sydney went into halftime down by only eight points at the break. The Tigers came out ready to play in the second half scoring the first 4 points of the half, making the score 45-41. However, over the course of the next 7 1⁄2 minutes, the Panthers went on a 33-9 run. The Panthers’ aggressive and very athletic defense forced 25 Tiger turnovers, which led to a lot of fast break opportunities for the Panthers. On a positive note, the Tigers forced 18 turnovers of their own—proving how pesky and disruptive their aggressive presses can be–and stayed with a much bigger squad in the rebounding department, only being outrebounded by two boards. In the game, Turner King posted a team high 21 points and 9 rebounds, while Ben Jessee chipped in with 12 points of his own. Freshman Harrison George showed great poise and confidence by scoring 10 points and bringing down 7 boards.
The Tigers got their first win of the year in the first game of the South Region Hoops Challenge against North Carolina Wesleyan 90-79. With 8:30 remaining in the 1st half, the Bishops of North Carolina Wesleyan led 28-15, but over the course of the next six minutes, the Tigers clamped down on defense and went on a 21-8 run, knotting the game up at 36. The Tigers eventually led 44-42 at the half and fed off that momentum in the beginning of the second half, scoring the first 9 points of the second half. However, the Bishops would not go away, cutting the Tiger lead to 2 with 10 minutes left. Whenever the Bishops would make a run, the Tigers stayed resilient and answered strongly, capitalizing on many second chance opportunities. Junior big man Colin O’Neill was clutch in the final minutes of the game, knocking down 5 straight free throws and scoring 7 of his 15 points in the final 1:11 of the game. Ben Jessee led all scorers by dropping 20 on the Bishops, hitting 4 threes along the way. The Tigers had four other players—Turner King, Harrison George, Jonathan Mudd, and freshman Randall Ward–reach the double figure scoring mark, scoring 15, 13, 12, and 10 respectively.
The very next day, the Tigers continued their winning streak by holding off the Hornets of Shenandoah University 79-71. This game was much different than the night before considering that the Tigers started out red hot, jumping out to a 21-8 lead just 10 minutes into the contest. In that run, lock-down defense caused 7 Hornet turnovers, while on the offensive side of the ball, the players dazzled the crowd with spectacular offensive plays, including a sensational behind the back pass from freshman Patrick Corrigan to Colin O’Neill who finished the play with a crafty reverse lay-up. In the first half, the Tigers shot 60% from the field and had a 45-35 lead at halftime. The Hornets, however, did not want to leave the South Region Hoops Challenge without a victory—they lost to Mary Washington the day before–and after solid play in the second half, the Hornets found themselves only down by 2, 61-59 with five minutes remaining. However, the Tigers answered every Hornet bucket with a bucket of their own. Down the stretch, the Tigers had to make their free throws to secure a victory, and they did exactly that, going 7/8 from the charity stripe in the last 1:30 of the game–Ben Jessee went 4/4 and remains a perfect 14/14 on the season thus far. Jessee ended up with 16 points, while Jonathan Mudd hit double digits for the second straight game with 10. Turner King ended up with a game-high 20 points.
The Tigers have certainly proved their athleticism and resiliency in the first three games of the season, both of which will help them in ODAC play which they opened up this past Wednesday, December 2nd against Roanoke College (keep in mind this article was written before this game took place). The Tigers take the road on December 5th and 6th to take part in the Salisbury University Optimist Classic in Maryland. They will face Ramapo College of NJ on the 5th and take on either Methodist or Salisbury on the 6th. One of the biggest home games of the year will take place on December 9th, when the Tigers host ODAC foe and the #3 ranked team in the nation, Guilford. That night will also be Fraternity Night at Fleet Gymnasium, so be sure to mark your calendars and get to the game early ready to make some noise. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
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