VIRGINIA BEACH -- Ferrum College's first meeting with Virginia Wesleyan College since the 1989-90 season just fell on bad place on the 2013-14 schedule.

The Panthers visited Virginia Beach and the Jane P. Batten Student Center on Thursday and collided with a host Marlins team that was bent on making a statement after back-to-back overtime losses, one in double overtime.

No. 10 Virginia Wesleyan did what it set out to do, utilizing 19 players in a 105-64 non-conference victory that ended the 2013 portion of the current schedule with the Marlins now owning an 8-2 record.

Junior Greg Montgomery (Virginia Beach/Princess Anne) scored a career-high 24 points to lead four Marlins in double-figure scoring as VWC posted its third 100+ game of the season.  Montgomery nailed 9-of-11 shot attempts and 6-of-8 free throws, and dished out five assists. Rookie Khory (Arlington/Wakefield) also hit for a career-high with 15 points, hitting 6-of-9 field goal attempts. Sophomore Sedric Nady (Virginia Beach/Landstown) emerged with 11 points.

VWC's fourth double-figure scorer was All-American D.J. Woodmore (Virginia Beach/Landstown), who connected on 7-of-10 shots en route to 19 points, marking his 17th consecutive game in double-figure scoring. He hit five triples, increasing his career total to 200, making him only the third VWC player ever to net 200+ triples.  Woodmore's 19 points also increased his career total to 1,574, moving him into the No. 5 spot among VWC's all-time leading scorers, tying Lonnie Blow (1979-82), whoi is the current head men's basketball coach at Virginia State University.

Ferrum (3-6), tagged as the No. 2 team in the USA South Athletic Conference's preseason poll, led eary at VWC after Rashawn Speas (Winston-Salem, N.C./Pfieffer) and preseason All-American Jamal Pullen (Alexandria/T.C. Williams) scored in the first 1:30 of action.

Back-to-back three-point shots by Nady and junior Cameron Owens (Centreville/Centreville) gave Virginia Wesleyan the lead for good minutes later.  The treys were part of a 25-4 scoring run by the Marlins, who opened up a 30-11 advantage with 8:33 remaining in the first half.  Six Marlins scored in the surge, led by Montgomery with 11 points.

Pullen scored on a layup to get the Panthers back on the scoreboard at 30-13, but VWC closed out the half with a 22-7 run to post a 52-20 lead at halftime. Woodmore led that final scoring effort with 11 points in a span of 7:26.

Virginia Wesleyan started to turn to its deep bench early in the second half, but nothing much changed on the court for the Marlins, who opened up a 46-point lead several times in the half. 

VWC connected on 52% of its field goals in the contest, while Ferrum hit on 36%.  The Panthers struggled in the first half, hitting only 28% from the field, netting seven goals.  Virginia Wesleyan's shooting included a 12-of-27 effort from three-point range, while Ferrum hit just 1-of-12.

The Marlins helped themselves by winning the rebounding battle 48-33, led by Montgomery with seven. Thirteen Marlins recorded at least one rebound.  Pullen led all rebounding however, pulling in nine for the Panthers.

Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, hosting North Carolina Weseyan College at 3 p.m.

--AMDG--