VIRGINIA BEACH -- A 15-4 scoring run by Virginia Wesleyan College's men's basketball team midway through the first half turned momentum in favor of the Marlins who rode it the rest of the way to a 93-74 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) victory over Shenandoah University on Wednesday.

A large crowd was on hand at the Jane P. Batten Student Center for Cancer Awareness Night and Senior Night, the latter honoring Marlins DJ Woodmore(Virginia Beach/Landstown),  Aaron Clark(Virginia Beach/Tallwood), Colby Heard(Virginia Beach/Tallwood), and Trent Batson(Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen).

The quartet combined to score 52 points, led by Woomore with 27 and Heard with 16. Rookie Khory Moore(Arlington/Wakefield) added 20 points for the Marlins, who turned an early 17-9 deficit into a 24-21 lead, led by Heard with eight points.

Jump shots by Jared Carithers (Bowie, Md./Bowie) and Sam Lawrence (Roanoke/North Cross) returned the lead to Shenandoah (12-12, 4-11), but only temporarily. Woodmore scored 13 straight points in a little more than three minutes to put Virginia Wesleyan (18-6, 11-4)  in front and the Marlins outscored the Hornets 12-4  in the final 3:18 of the half to open up a 47-39 lead at halftime.  Junior Cameron Owens(Centreville/Centreville)and Woodmore nailed back-to-back jumpers to cap first-half scoring for VWC.

Shenandoah shot well throughout the first half, hitting 59.1% from the field, but was hampered by an aggressive Virginia Wesleyan defense that helped to force 14 turnovers.  The Marlins recorded nine steals in the half, led by Moore with four.  VWC added seven more steals in the second half and Shenandoah finished with 23 turnovers.

Virginia Wesleyan scored the first four points of the second half and outscored Shendoah 18-9 in the first seven minutes to open up a 65-48 lead. Moore was the catalyst in the break-away scoring surge, hitting a trio of consecutive triples en route to scoring 11 points in three minutes.  The Marlins went open to post their largest lead of the night at 89-64 with 3:16 remaining to be played.

Avery Green (Fredericksburg/Courtland), the ODAC's leading scorer tallied eight points for the Hornets in the final 3:01 and finished with a game-high 28 points. He hit 10-of-19 shots, including 5-of-6 from three-point range. Carithers added 16 points and CJ Rudisill (Pittsburgh, Pa./South Fayette) tallied 15, helped by a trio of triples

Shenandoah connected on nine triples overall, while Virginia Wesleyan, ranked No. 6 nationally in triples made per game, protected its average by nailing 10. Woodmore led that effort with four treys, Moore added three, and Owens hit two.

Virginia Wesleyan won the rebounding battle 40-34, led by Heard with seven and Owens with six. Brandon Pressley (Greensboro, N.C./Mountain View Christian) led Shenandoah with six.

Junior Breven Lyons(Newport News/Warwick)recorded five assists for VWC, Batson recorded three blocks, and Moore posted five steals...all-game highs.

Virginia Wesleyan closes the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 22, playing at Guilford College in and ODAC contest beginning at 4 p.m.

--AMDG--