The University of Mary Washington men's basketball team dropped its season opener to Hampden-Sydney College, 86-62, on Tuesday night in the South Region Challenge in Rocky Mount, N.C.

Hampden-Sydney used an early 13-2 run to start the game and take the early lead. The Eagles cut the deficit to six on a Riester three pointer with 12:18 left in the first half, but HSC scored seven straight to return the lead to 13 at 22-9 with 10:55 remaining. UMW cut the deficit to three several times, thanks to a pair of John Yoxthimer baskets and another Riester three, and the score stood at 26-23 with 5:18 left. But the Tigers scored the next 11 points to lead 37-23 with 1:50, and led, 39-28, at halftime.

The Eagles started much better in the second half, as baskets from Taylor Johnson and Jack hamilton and a Riester three cut the deficit to eight at 43-35 with 17:20 remaining. HSC used a 19-5 run to put the Eagles out of reach, leading 62-40 with 10:25 left in the game. The Eagles were able to close the gap to 12 with 3:59 to go, but the Tigers closed the game on a 13-1 run for the 24-point win.

In addition to Riester's 16 points, freshman Lamont Fields scored 10 points for UMW, while Johnson added nine points and eight rebounds. Yoxthimer also scored nine for UMW.

The Eagles shot 35% from the floor, while the Tigers shot a blistering 54.7% (35-64). HSC also held a 40-34 rebounding edge, and forced 23 UMW turnovers. Cam Anderson had 21 points off the bench to lead Hampden-Sydney.

Mary Washington will be back in action on Wednesday when they face Shenandoah university in Rocky Mount at 1:00 p.m.