With the New Year capped off and the college basketball season beginning the dog days of conference play, the Quakers men’s basketball team has been through some ups and downs as Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play began. The 2011-12 Quakers are standing now with an 11-5 overall record and a 5-2 ODAC record.

“Thus far, I feel that the season is going well and the team is getting better everyday through tough practices,” said Justin Bradley, student coach for the Quakers, in an email interview.

“We have a good record, but suffered a few tough losses on the road to very good teams,” said Bradley. “The losses should only help us as we go deeper into the conference schedule, as well preparing for the conference tournament. With new personnel we still need to continue to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses as well as to improve on the defensive end.”

Guilford was ranked third in the ODAC preseason poll, however the Quakers now stand in their highest position of the season in fourth place, at one time fifth, after losing three of four games before winning their last two.

Bradley points out that even though people may pay attention to the preseason rating, the team typically tries to block it out of their system as it does not fully tell the story of a team’s potential or the success they may garner at the end of the year.

“If we focus on getting better and what we are trying to do then success should follow,” said Bradley. “We hope to improve everyday as coaches and as players, and we hope to reach our maximum potential and elite status so that we can compete for a conference championship and beyond.”

Junior Josh Pittman and senior Gabriel Lowder have taken upon themselves as leaders of the team.

Pittman earned ODAC Player of the Week for the week of January 16 and his third Guilford Student-Athlete of the Week of the season. In the last week, Pittman averaged 21.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4 assists and has shot 53 percent from beyond the three-point line.

Lowder is having a solid year, averaging 12 points and shooting 39 percent from three-point range. He matched his season high with 21 points in the Quakers’ 79-73 victory against Eastern Mennonite on January 14.

The Quakers, although going through the trials of conference play, are optimistic that they will improve by the conference postseason tournament next month.

“Coach Palombo wants us to improve every day so that we are the best team at the end of February,” said Bradley. “We have the talent and the work ethic to continue to do well and we have expectations for ourselves and do not pay attention to the media’s expectations.”