VIRGINIA BEACH -- Just when it seemed as though Eastern Mennonite University's Royals figured out a way to keep things close at Virginia Wesleyan College, the host Marlins switched gears.

The No. 5 ranked Marlins put together an impressive 32-5 scoring run to roll to a 91-65 Old Dominion Athletic Conference victory before an appreciative crowd at the Jane P. Batten Student Center on Wednesday.

It started in the first half after a Randell Smith (Woodbridge, Va./Garfield) jumper pulled Eastern Mennonite (8-10, 3-6) within a 30-28 score with 4:45 remaining in the first half.  A free throw by Ali Brown (Hampton, Va./Kecoughtan) and a timely triple by D.J. Woodmore (Virginia Beach/Landstown) followed for Virginia Wesleyan, sparking a 13-2 scoring surge to close the first half with a 43-30 lead.  Woodmore led the way with five points.

The halftime break did not stop Virginia Wesleyan's momentum, nor the electrifying inside play of senior  Donald Vaughn (Woodbridge, Va./Dumfries Potomac) who put on a clinic in the first three minutes of the second half.  He started the scoring with a pair of free throws, and sandwiched a pair of demonstrative dunks around a pair of jumpers.  It all added up to 10 straight points from Vaughn to help push the Marlins into a 53-33 lead with just 2:30 played in the second half.

The effort was contagious as Woodmore kept things going with a dunk and a jumper, before Chris Teasley (Newport News, Va./Menchville) and Brown added points that capped a 19-3 start for the Marlins, who led 62-33 with 16:09 remaining in the half.

Owen Longacre (Telford, Pa./Christopher Dock), James Williams (Capitol Heights, Md./Archbishop Carroll), Andre Thorne (Front Royal, Va./Skyline), and Adam Burroughs (Roanoke, Va./Northside) came back for EMU to help the Royals cut the deficit to 21 points with 9:40 remaining, but it never got any closer for the team from Harrisonburg.

Virginia Wesleyan's win snapped a five-game losing streak in the series with EMU and improved VWC's overall record against EMU to 45-21.  It also improved VWC's record to 15-2 overall this season and to a league-leading 8-1.

Vaughn finished the game with a season-high 25 points, just one shy of tying his career-high set against Lynchburg College in 2010.  He hit 10-of-15 field goals, blocked three shots, recorded three steals, and pulled down six rebounds.  Woodmore added 20 points in the win, nailing 7-of-13 field goal attempts, pulling down seven rebounds, and passing out a game-high five assists.  Teasley scored 11 points, hitting 5-o-f9 field goals overall.

The Marlins hit only 2-of-13 long-range shots, but tempered that showing by hitting35-of-74 field goals overall.  VWC also won the rebounding battle, 46-40, led by Brown with eight. Brown also recorded three blocks.  Senior Art Crew (Williamsburg, Va./Lafayette) contributed with four points, four assists and four steals.

Thorne led EMU with 16 points and seven rebounds.  Williams finished with 12 points and Longacre recorded nine points and seven boards.

Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Saturday, Jan. 28, in the Coaches vs. Cancer game, taking on Hampton Roads rival Christopher Newport University.  That game will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Ted Constant Center at Old Dominion University.  The contest will follow an earlier game featuring the College of William and Mary and host ODU.

--AMDG--