UMW men’s basketball team takes off in season opener against Guilford College

Sophia LaGraize

STAFF WRITER

On Nov. 7, the UMW men’s basketball team won its season opener against the Guilford College Quakers with a final score of 82–78.

The Eagles played a competitive game for all four quarters, the score being even with one minute left in the match. The Eagles were eventually able to overcome the tied score with great plays from Kye Robinson, a sophomore business administration major, Ulysses Young, a sophomore accounting major and Jay Randall, a junior business administration major.

“It could have been better, but we’ll take the win for sure,” said Randall.

Given their effective defense, the Eagles had a total of five blocks and eight steals, totaling nine points off of Quaker turnovers.  Despite the competitive defensive run, both the Quakers netted nearly 100 points. 

“We usually don’t like having teams go over like 50 or 60 points, but we had to grind it out at the end,” said Randall. 

Randall recognizes that there is room for improvement as the season continues.

“I feel like we definitely could have cleaned up the turnovers for sure,” he said. 

The team was able to pick up the pace by the end of the second quarter with swift passes and quick thinking when scoring.

The teams were neck and neck for the majority of the game, the score remaining close until the final minutes. At the two-minute marker, the teams were at 75 points each, with the Quakers picking up their pace in the game. However, the aggressive defensive strategy of the Quakers was ultimately their demise, having a total of 31 fouls, giving the Eagles plenty of free throws from Robinson and Young, who hit six free throws total in the final seconds of the game.

Robinson made eight field goals and 13 free throws, ending the game with 30 points in the first game of the season.

“It was a grounded out game, so we just had to find a way to play,” said Young

Closely after this win, the team prepared for their next game the following day against Eastern Mennonite University, winning by a final score of 72–64.  

“I feel like we did some good things in our scrimmages, but we still have stuff that we have to clean up for our game tomorrow,” said Robinson.

UMW’s men’s basketball team will play again on Nov. 21 against Trine University Great Lakes Invitational in Washington, Pa., as they defend their national ranking of placing 15th in the Division III Hoops Poll. 

“I like how we played offensively, put up a lot of points today,” said Robinson.