Wednesday, Nov. 19, was rivalry night on Guilford’s campus as men’s basketball battled cross-town foe Greensboro College. The Quakers (2-0) notched their eighth win in the last ten years over the struggling Pride (0-3), winning 77-56. Guilford owns the all-time series 27-9, but this year’s 21-point margin of victory was the series’ largest since Guilford’s 74-53 triumph over Greensboro in 2000. Since head coach Tom Palombo’s arrival in 2003, Guilford is 5-1 against the Pride.

Junior guard Rhett Bonner led the Quakers scoring fury with 21 points, hitting three of his five three-pointers. Senior and forward George Neville (14 points) and junior and guard Clay Henson (12 points) added valuable baskets to keep Greensboro out of reach. Junior and center Tyler Sanborn dominated the glass and the Greensboro shooters, recording five blocked shots, 13 rebounds (four offensive, nine defensive), topped off with nine points.

“We knew going into the game there would be a lot of emotion,” said Bonner. “We couldn’t let that take us out of what we wanted to do. We dominated the glass, which is what we want to do every game.”

Greensboro fought hard to a 13-13 tie half way through the first half. After a Palombo timeout, Guilford went on a 23-10 run to end the half with a 36-23 lead. Guilford’s defense swarmed the Pride offense, limiting them to 30.3 percent shooting in the first half. The resilient Quaker’s forced Greensboro to take more difficult shots outside the lane, which kept the Pride out of their comfort zone.

Guilford continued the momentum from the first half and dominated the final 20 minutes of play. A steady offensive attack from Bonner, Neville, and Henson, combined with suffocating defense from Sanborn allowed Guilford to blow the game open, outscoring the Pride 41-33 in the second-half. Guilford dominated the physical game recording 21 second-chance points and 41 points in the paint.

“Hopefully (the win) won’t go to our heads,” said Bonner. “It doesn’t matter how much we win by. A win is a win, but I guess it’s a little sweeter when one is against your cross-town rival. We don’t need to have the mindset that we win a couple games by 15-20 points means we can just show up and expect to win. It doesn’t come that easy.”

With young talent, the Quakers can anticipate a lot of wins in 2008-09, which was proven on this Wednesday night. The first-years provided valuable depth throughout the game. Guard, Gabriel Lowder (9 points) and Eric High (4 points) led the first-year surge with six rebounds. In only two minutes of play, guard, Will Cloyd added three points and two rebounds.

The Quakers continued their winning ways in their games following their win over Greensboro. Guilford traveled to Richardson, Texas to play in the Fred Jacoby/I-20 Classic on Nov. 21-22. The Quakers split the two-game tournament against The University of Texas-Tyler and The University of Texas at Dallas. Guilford won the first game over Texas-Tyler 75-66, but lost 64-48 to Texas at Dallas.

Danville, Va., was the site of Guilford’s recent victory against Averett University on Nov. 25. The Quakers double digit 73-63 win propelled them to 4-1, which will prepare the team as they host Old Dominican Athletic Conference’s (ODAC) second ranked Virginia Wesleyan College on Dec. 6.