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SPORTS
Men's basketball bests Virginia Wesleyan, Reaneke
By Patrick Childs
Staff Writer
The \^rginia Wesleyan Marlins have been
a headache that the Guilford men's basket
ball team couldn't get rid of, until they faced
off on Jan. 13 in the Ragan-Brown Field
House.
The Quakers, ranked 17th nationally with
a 9-4 record, put to rest an eight-game losing
streak against Virginia Wesleyan, defeating
the defending Division III champions in a
bittersweet victory.
Virginia Wesleyan ended the Quakers sto
rybook season in the NCAA quarterfinals in
2007 and last year's exit marked the fourth
straight season finished by the Marlins.
Head Coach Tom Palombo felt satisfied
after defeating the school he played for and
graduated from.
"If s good to win," Palombo said. "As we
prepared for the game, it was no different,
if s good to beat every team."
Cheering and celebrating followed last
week's win over the Marlins. During the past
two seasons, the Quakers have given fans a
lot to cheer about.
In the 2006-07 campaign, the team com
piled a 24-5 record, and a trip to NCAA's
elite eight. This year, the Quakers continue
to drain shots, gather rebounds and dunk
over opponents, which helped accumulate a
devoted Quaker fan base.
Supporters, especially juniors and twin
brothers Alex and Andy Parker have gone
out of their way to attract fans to games by
creating a Facebook group.
In the past two years the online group,
with 215 members, used organization as a
technique to make as much noise as possible
at home games. Messages are sent to every
member of the group, which informs mem
bers of games and colors to wear.
The converging of the Quakers fan base
was evident this season. When walking into
Ragan-Brown gym during a home game, all
that is seen is white.
A "white ouf' was the exact term used
on the Facebook group referring to the hun
dreds of white shirts worn by students.
"Last year there was no organization. It
was amazing that first game with all the
white," said Alex Parker.
The Quaker football players have shown
their presence at home games with their
painted faces and white t-shirts. Most of
their t-shirts have the number of players,
such as Ben Strong, Clay Henson and Caleb
Kimbrough on their backs.
According to the Guilford men's basketball
team's website, the average home attendance
for the Quakers in the 2006-07 season was
590, a vast growth from the previous year of
307. The average attendance for this year's
Quakers is 460, a number that is expected to
reach, or even surpass, last years' mark.
"The fans are awesome," said junior for
ward George Neville, who appreciates the
fan base. "If s incredible walking on the floor
and seeing fans screaming and yelling."
Now that bleachers are full, one of the
goals for the Facebook group is to make as
much noise as possible. From the vibration
of the bleachers to the echoing voices, the
group has obviously reached their goal.
Yelling, jumping and cheering cannot be
ignored. During games fans stand as close
as a couple feet from the playing floor.
Being that close makes antagonizing oppos
ing players much easier.
With the exception of a few close losses,
the Quakers continue to win. Although they
are not playing at their highest potential
every game, they are optimistic about the
rest of their season.
Going into Wednesday night's game
against Roanoke, the men's team had 12
games remaining on their regular season
schedule, including six home games.
Roanoke brought an 11-2 record to Ragan-
Brown and carried a seven-game winning
streak, which included a 68-56 victory over
the Quakers the preceding Wednesday. The
Maroons were also ranked number two
in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference
(ODAC), and is currently carrying a seven
game win
In a message sent to members of the
Facebook group, Andy Parker, encouraged
everyone to wear white to the upcoming
game.
"Come Wednesday, support your
Quakers with our colors on your backs," said
Parker, "and your voice in your lungs. Go
Quakers."
The inspiration appears to have worked.
The Quakers crushed the Maroons in the
rematch, 92-56.
For photos from Wednesday's win over
Roanoke, check out Guilfordian.com.
Women’s basketball loses three, keeps winning record
By Deem Zani
Senior Writer
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"Even though we may not have
come out on top on the scoreboard, we
certainly left it dl out there," said wom
en's basketball Head Coach Stephanie
Flamini. "Sometimes things don't go
your way, but I feel these kids left it all
out there this weekend and just didn't
get the win. So my evaluation of the
weekend was positive."
The Quakers fell to the L)mchburg
College Hornets (57-65) on Tuesday, Jan.
22, the Eastern Mennonite Royals (48-
57) on Friday, Jan. 25, and Bridgewater
College (68-7^ on Saturday, Jan. 26.
"We have to improve on being a
better second half team and finish
ing games strong," said sophomore
Jasmine Wood. "We've been great at
hanging with most teams we play, but
lately we haven't been able to close out
games."
Despite hitting a rough patch, the
Quakers look ahead with optimism,
boasting a strong 9-5 record.
"We have to stay optimistic, because
games are so close together," said junior
Shevon Hacket. "We can't let the emo
tion from one game carry over, espe
cially if it is a loss, because we need to
focus on the upcoming game."
The team's greatest strength this
season has consistently been their
defense.
"(Defense) is something that we have
really worked on since last season and I
think that we really pride ourselves on
it," said junior Brittany Bumgarner.
Defense played a major role in two
of the team's biggest victories of the
season, a 67-51 win over conference
leaders Virginia Wesleyan, and a 63-52
win over Greensboro College.
"The highlight of the season for me
would have to be tlie 0an. 12) win
over Virginia Wesleyan at Virginia
Wesleyan," said junior Jessica Casto.
"They were ranked number one in the
conference and were also undefeated
in conference (games), and we beat
them by 16 points."
Others agree the 67-51 victory was a
highpoint of their season, so far.
"We played 40 minutes of confi
dent, intense team basketball," said
coach Flamini. "It was great to see the
determination and heart that everyone
showed for the entire game."
"It felt good to make a statement in
the conference and show that we can
really play with anybody if we come
out and play the best we can," Wood
said.
The Quakers' Nov. 20 win against
Greensboro College was also signifi
cant, since the victory was the first over
Greensboro in four years and it was on
Greensboro's court.
"We did well getting the job done
and playing on the road with very few
fans," said sophomore Ann Seufer.
The team plans to rely on their
defensive strength and depth off the
bench to end their season as strongly
as they've begun.
"If one person isn't having a great
game one night, you can count on
someone else stepping up and get
ting the job done," Seufer said. "We
also play a sort of run-and-gun game,
which means that when people work
hard and get tired, we have people
ready to come off the bench and keep
up the pressure."
Equdly important are the relation
ships between players, both on and off
the court.
"We have a very versatile, skilled
group that gets along well on and off
die court," Wood said. 'This helps us
be on the same page on the court and
we have a new found focus on defense
collectively, as a team because we know
that is a key in us winning gam^."
Although the team may have a deep
bench to draw from, it is important to
realize that they're still a young team
with room to grow.
"What needs to be remembered here
is that this team is very young, with
four juniors, five sophomores and three
freshmen, and that they are still learn
ing," Flamini said.
The team has worked hard to help
one another, both on the court and off.
"We had a buddy system this year,
where veteran players took new play
ers kind of under our wing and made
them feel real comfortable," said Tracey
Croner. "I love the new girls; we all
mesh well together."
Expect big things from this group of
talented players working hard for one
another, and come out and support the
team.
"It felt good to make a statement in the conference and show that we can
really play with anybody If we come out and play the best we can."
Jasmine Wood, sophomore