Fans piled into the Greensboro Coliseum for both Guilford men’s and women’s basketball teams as they faced long-time rival Greensboro College. Nov. 15 marked the opening of the regular season.
Unfortunately for Guilford, the games also marked both teams’ first losses of the season.
From Greensboro’s students’ body paint to the wall of Guilford students standing against the court barrier, the night was characterized by a lively rivalry between the schools.
The women’s team started off the night. The Quakers struggled for the rebounds and box-outs needed to keep up with Greensboro. Greensboro took a 33-28 lead into the second half.
Amidst a continuous struggle to catch up to Greensboro, the women’s team tried to give it their all throughout the game.
“We need to improve on intensity, ” said junior Jazlyn Gibbs. “We need to come out there more fired up and a little more focused. I think we are a young team, but I think we will pull through”.
First-year Gabby Oglesby said, “Learning the different pace between high school and college will be the toughest challenge of the season.”
First-year guard Kayla Adams, along with her teammates, continued to pressure Greensboro through the second half and forced the Pride into 14 turnovers. With just minutes left in the game Adams made a three-point shot, pushing the score to 77-56 with the Pride in the lead.
“Our team strengths are that we are fast, we can get the ball and our speed is our main advantage,” Oglesby said.
Greensboro beat Guilford by a final score of 81-56.
Soon after the women finished their game, the men’s team stepped on the court for warm-ups.
Throughout the first half, the lead went back and forth between the two teams. With 30 seconds left in the first half, Greensboro led 26-25.
Guilford took the lead and held it through the second half. But with 35 seconds on the clock Greensboro stole the advantage from Guilford with 60-59 lead.
Shortly after, confusion concerning a foul called on Greensboro brought a halt to the game. After consulting, the referees ruled no foul on the play, stating that a whistle from the stands had caused the play to stop.
The alleged interference led the Quakers to lose their foul shots, and the score remained 62-59 with Greensboro in the lead.
Out of nowhere, sophomore Josh Pittman helped to turn the game around for Guilford. With seconds away from the buzzer, Pittman hit a three-pointer. Guilford’s crowd went wild as the second half ended with a tie score of 62-62.
Going into a five-minute overtime, Greensboro got the jump ball. Guilford senior T.C. Anderson made a steal and fed junior Justin Stafford, who put Guilford up 64-62.
With two minutes left in the game, Greensboro took possession and retook the lead with a three-pointer.
For the last minute of the game the two teams fought for the lead.
With 18 seconds remaining, Greensboro took the lead, 76-73. Junior Tobi Akinsola attempted another shot, but missed, leaving the final score Greensboro 76-73.
“It was rough,” said Anderson. “It was one game. I can’t change it, and we will all move forward.”
Anderson finished with two points and five assists
Pittman also had suggestions for the team’s improvement.
“We definitely needed to take care of the ball better,” said Pittman, who dropped in 17 points for the Quakers.
“For future games, (we need to) just play harder and hit free throws,” said Akinsola, who had a game-high 24 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. “We just need to have a short memory about this game and move onto the next.”