GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Virginia Wesleyan College's No. 7 ranked Marlins produced a 17-4 scoring surge midway through the first half of Saturday's game at Guilford College to take a lead never lost in an 84-66 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) victory over the host Quakers.

Seniors Greg Montgomery (Virginia Beach) and Breven Lyons (Newport News/Warwick), junior Nick Doyle (Franklin/Southampton) and sophomore Khory Moore (Arlington/Wakefield School) all contributed scoring in the run that wiped out an early Guilford lead for good. The Marlins (5-1, 1-1) turned an 18-15 deficit into a 32-22 lead with 6:20 remaining to be played in the first half.

Hunter Jackson (Sanford, N.C./Lee County) came through for Guilford (5-2, 0-1) to score six straight points that pulled the Quakers within four points shortly before halftime, but it never got closer. Doyle hit a jumper for the Marlins, senior Brandon Mitchell (Albany, Ga./Westover) scored on a layup and sophomore Tim Jones (Richmond/Henrico) nailed a timely triple as VWC outscored the host team 7-2 to end the half and take a 41-32 lead into the break.

Montgomery and Jones provided early scoring in the second half for the Marlins who pushed their lead to 14 points in the first two minutes. Guilfford did not fold however, and the Quakers eventually came back to pull within seven points when Matt McCarthy (Rockville, Md./Good Counsel), the ODAC's leading three-point shooter, nailed a triple to make it a 63-56 game with 7:19 on the clock.

Scoring by senior Cam Owens (Centreville/Centreville) for the Marlins was countered by baskets from Jonny Rice (Fayetteville, N.C./Terry Sanford) and Trever Hyatt (Connelly Springs, N.C./East Burke) to keep the Quakers within seven at the 5:41 mark. Montgomery took over at that point for VWC and scored seven unanswered points that ballooned the Marlins' lead back to 14 at 74-60 with 3:10 on the clock.

Guilford never got closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

Montgomery led all scoring with 22 points for the Marlins, recording his third 20+ effort in the last four games. He hit 9-of-17 shots and was a force on the boards for VWC, pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds.

Moore hit 6-of-12 shots and scored 16 points,a long with pulling down seven rebounds and recorded a game-high four assists and four steals.  Mitchell hit 5-of-10 field goal attempts and matched his season-high with 11 points.

Rice paced Guilford, hitting 6-of-7 shots, to finish with 13 points.  Hyatt added 11 points.

Virginia Wesleyan competes again on Sunday, Dec. 7, playing at Ferrum College in non-league action beginning at 2 p.m.

--AMDG--