On Saturday, Jan. 29, the Guilford College men’s basketball team faced off in a heated battle against nationally ninth-ranked Randolph-Macon.

The Quakers came alive in the second half due to their strong will to win and got the victory, 62-61, against the Yellow Jackets.

“We only had one day of prep and decided to worry about us and I think we were prepared,” said head coach Tom Palombo.

As Palombo said, the game got started on a good note with junior Gabriel Lowder and sophomore Josh Pittman scoring five points to get the momentum rolling.

The score soon became 13-10 with Guilford in the lead. Lamar Giggetts for Randolph-Macon hit a jumper and the Yellow Jackets took the lead, 16-14.

“We were playing good — we were not getting offensive shots because they were really shutting us down,” said Palombo. “But defensively we were playing pretty well.”

For the rest of the first half, the Quakers were down five points and the crowd relaxed, waiting for something spectacular. At the end of the half, the score was 27-20 in favor of Randolph-Macon.

“We did not panic and when we put two halves together, we can make it happen,” said Pittman, a Quakers starter.

Guilford returned with a desire to succeed. Pittman contributed six points in the first three minutes of play. The Quakers were back in the game.

“It felt a lot better because in the second half we were coming off of screens and helping set screens for others,” said Pittman.

The battle for points continued through the second half.

The Quakers and Yellow Jackets were building force, however, the Quakers had an edge due to their superior stamina.

With 15 seconds remaining, Lowder made a jumper from inside the paint. This basket gave the Quakers the lead, 62-61.

“(The shot) felt great; hard work and practice was paying off for us in this game,” said Lowder after the game.

The final seconds ticked slowly and Randolph-Macon called a time-out with 2.5 seconds left in the game. The Quakers’ bench had all eyes on Palombo, as he strategized to hold off the Yellow Jackets.

The Yellow Jackets’ offense worked hard to get Adam Desgain open for a three-point shot.

Desgain took the shot which rebounded off the inside of the rim, and it looked as if it was taking a nose dive back into the net.

Luck and hard work seemed to pay off for the Quakers as the ball bounced off the rim and into senior Tobi Akinsola’s hands.

Guilford College players and fans cheered loudly as they celebrated an enormous victory over Randolph-Macon.

“Every game is big but it feels even better after you beat a team that good,” said senior T.C. Anderson.

The next men’s home basketball game is Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m.

Wednesday is Jimmy V night so fans can come out and support Jim Valvano and watch the Quakers take on Washington and Lee.