VIRGINIA BEACH -- Virginia Wesleyan College's Marlins put together a 16-1 scoring run late in the first half Wednesday and rode the momentum to a 79-57 non-conference victory over Hampton Roads rival Christopher Newport University at the Jane P. Batten Student Center.

Conley Taylor (Newport News, Va./Menchville) hit a jumper to pull CNU (2-1) within a 23-18 score with 7:03 remaining in the half, but junior Ed Roberts (Chesapeake, Va./Deep Creek) answered at the other end of the court for the No. 12 ranked Marlins (5-0) to ignite the run.

Four Marlins scored in the surge, led by sophomoreChris Astorga (Suffolk, Va./Virginia Beach Cape Henry) with five points and junior Jason Burns (Clinton, Md./Frederick Douglass) with four.  Burns connected on back-to-back jumpers sandwiching a CNU turnover as Virginia Wesleyan opened up a 39-19 lead.  Taylor came through for the Captains in the final minute, scoring three points to cut the halftime deficit to 39-22.

Matters never improved for Christopher Newport, as VWC turned repeatedly to its deep bench and never lost a beat.  The Marlins used another scoring surge to virtually cap VWC's ninth consecutive win over CNU, outscoring the Captains 19-8 in eight minutes to open up a 66-36 advantage with 8:24 remaining to be played.  Once again four Marlins keyed the run, led by junior Donald Vaughn (Woodbridge, Va./Dumfries Potomac), sophomore Chris Teasley (Newport News, Va./Menchville) and Burns with four points each.

Steady rebounding was key for VWC, as the Marlins out-boarded CNU, 43-27, led by Teasley and Astorga with six each.  Vaughn aided the Marlins with three blocks.

Burns led all scoring with a career-high 20 points, hitting 8-of-10 from the field.  Astorga finished with 13 points and Vaughn tallied 10.

Taylor led CNU with 17 points, followed by senior Mike Green (Norfolk, Va./Granby) with 11 and rookie Tra Benefield (Richmond, Va./Evangel Christian) with 10.

--AMDG--