FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.  Methodist pushed three of its starters into double figures Friday night in the Monarchs' season opener against visiting Guilford College, but the Quakers used a second-half surge to rally from behind and take a 72-65 win in non-conference men's basketball action at the Riddle Center.

Dante Burden knocked down 17 in his first game for the Monarchs, while Sam Mingledoff chimed in with 15 and Kaymon Mitchell added 11.

The Quakers got a double-double from Carson Long who led all scorers with 24 points, and ripped down a game best 12 rebounds.

THE ESSENTIALS
Final score: Guilford def. Methodist, 72-65
Records: Methodist 0-1; Guilford 1-0
Location: Riddle Center; Fayetteville, N.C.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Heading into the season without one single regular starter returning from the 2017-18 squad might have been cause for concern, but the starting five Friday would probably not have asked for any better of a beginning to the game, or season, for the Monarchs.
• A season-opening 3-pointer from Burden got Methodist off on the right foot. That was followed by a 6-2 run that provided the home team with a 9-2 advantage after a little more than three minutes of action.
• Twice more the lead would get to seven, and reached eight, 16-8, on a J'Quan Deal trey at the 14:18 mark.
• It was not until the 10:26 mark, with Methodist leading 23-16, that the Quakers could mount a rally. Within about three minutes they'd whittled away at the deficit, until tying the score at 23-23. Guilford would close out the final seven minutes of the first half on a 14-8 run that allowed the visitors to break for recess with a 37-31 lead.
• A short jumper by the Quakers opened second-half scoring, but a Mitchell layup ignited a lengthy stretch for the Monarchs, erasing an eight-point deficit and flipping it to a nine-point lead, 50-41, during the 19-2 run.
• Methodist hovered around a four- or six-point lead over the next seven minutes, but a layup from Long at the 6:06 mark was the beginning of the end for Methodist.
• Over those final six minutes the Quakers would come from behind with a 16-7 run that iced the game.

BOX FAX

• Mingledoff came down with a team-leading seven boards for Methodist. Burden collected six, all off the defensive glass, and Garren Dearman nabbed five.
• If Dearman continues to come up with eight steals -- like in Friday's -- in future games, he's likely to end up amongst the nation's leaders in thefts. Dearman's night helped the home team create a 12-4 bulge in steals.
• Methodist went to the charity stripe more often (22 times) than did Guilford (14), and finished with a 15-for-22 night at the stripe to out score the Quakers at the free-throw line, but Guilford would drop in two more 3-pointers and two more jumpers to help create the final winning margin.
• Methodist led for more than 23 minutes in the game.

NEXT UP
Methodist heads to Ferrum, Virginia, on Tuesday for a non-conference matchup against Ferrum College, previously a long-time member of the USA South Athletic Conference with the Monarchs.