EMORY, Va. -- Virginia Wesleyan College's men's basketball Marlins have had their share of difficult times posting a victory at Emory & Henry College's King Center. (Boxscore)

In fact, the host Wasps have pulled off the upset in four of VWC's last six visits.

But, the 2010-11 Marlins exited the King Center smiling for several reasons on Saturday, the foremost being an 82-72 victory.  The produced the reason for the continued smiling as the victory nailed down the No. 1 seed for Virginia Wesleyan entering the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship tournament.

The No.7 Marlins (22-3, 13-3) will make their tournament debut in the quarterfinals on Friday, Feb. 25, at the Salem Civic Center.  VWC will take on the winner of first-round game between eighth-seeded Lynchburg College (11-14, 6-10) and ninth-seeded Washington & Lee University (13-12, 5-11).

Virginia Wesleyan earned the top seed by taking control of Saturday's game at Emory & Henry in the final 17 minutes.  Junior Donald Vaughn (Woodbridge, Va./Dumfries Potomac) hit a jumper to tie the game at 41-all and then gave the Marlins a 43-41 lead with another jumper seconds later.  Junior Art Crew (Williamsburg, Va./Lafayette) followed with a big triple a little later and VWC led 46-41.

A basket from Chris Astorga (Suffolk, Va./Virginia Beach Cape Henry)extended the Marlin lead to seven points, before Kyle Sensabaugh (Columbus, Ohio/Briggs) answered for the Wasps with a triple.  The teams traded baskets for several minutes, before rookie DJ Woodmore (Virginia Beach/Landstown) gave VWC some breathing room with a triple off an assist from sophomore Tre' Ford (Falls Church, Va./J.E.B. Stuart).

That tripled sparked a 9-0 run that pushed Virginia Wesleyan into a 67-52 lead with 6:39 remaining.  Woodmore hit another triple that gave the Marlins the 15-point bulge and came back seconds later with a dunk that made the score 69-54.

Emory & Henry pulled with six points with 24 seconds remaining, following a triple by JT Murray (Charlotte, N.C./Independence), but Woodmore hit 4-of-4 free throws in the final seconds to repad the lead for VWC.

Woodmore finished with 19 points for Virginia Wesleyan, hitting 6-of-9 field goal attempts, including 3-of-5 triples.  He also pulled down a team-leading seven rebounds.  Astorga added 16 points, hitting 7-of-15 field goal attempts, and Vaughn tallied 15 points, nailing 5-of-9 shots overall.

Terrance Grigg (Charlotte, N.C./Hopewell) led all scoring with 30 points, hitting 10-of-19 field goals and 9-of-10 free throws. 

--AMDG--