FERRUM, Virginia -- Ferrum College's men's basketball team dropped its Old Dominion Athletic Conference opener to Hampden-Sydney College tonight at home, falling 86-83 at Swartz Gym.

RECORDS
Hampden-Sydney (5-0, 1-0 ODAC)
Ferrum (4-2, 0-1 ODAC)

THE BASICS
Hampden-Sydney jumped out to an early 9-3 lead, but Ferrum stemmed the tide with an 8-0 run to go out in front 11-9 on a Michael Spraggins three-pointer at the 15:48 mark. The Tigers used an 8-0 run of their own to go back up 17-11 four minutes later. 

Hampden-Sydney led 29-24 with just under five minutes left in the first half, before Ferrum would go on a 13-5 run and take a 37-34 lead into the break.

The Panthers slowly built a lead in the second half, and held a 49-41 advantage on Kajuan Madden-McAfee's three-pointer at 16:11. The Tigers clawed their way back, tying the game at 66-66 on Josiah Hardy's jumper with 7:07 left to play.

Hampden-Sydney led by as many as six points late in the game, 82-76, with 40 seconds left in regulation. Ferrum got to within a bucket at 83-81 on Madden-McAfee's three-pointer with 18 seconds left, but the Tigers held on for the league win.

KEY STATS
Hampden-Sydney: Ryan Clements 26 pts, 11 reb; Davidson Hubbard 12 pts; Adam Brazil 10 pts
Ferrum: James Smith Jr. 25 pts; Madden-McAfee 19 pts; Jamar Butler 11 pts; Spraggins 10 pts

BEHIND THE WHISTLE
"Tough one tonight. Just didn't do enough down the stretch to close it out. Credit Hampden-Sydney, they made enough plays and stepped up to the foul line to close us out. Hate the result, but it was a great battle. Back to work!" --Head Coach Tyler Sanborn

NEXT UP
Sanborn's team will be back in action Saturday, December 4, at Shenandoah University. The ODAC game is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off in Winchester, Virginia.