SALEM, Va. -- A day after they were named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference's (ODAC) Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, DJ Woodmore and Khory Moore displayed why they were selected to receive the big awards.

Moore (Arlington/Wakefield) showed no hesitation in shooting at the cavernous Salem Civic Center, netting 19 first half points, while Woodmore (Virginia Beach/Landstown) hit timely baskets for 13 points, as the Virginia Wesleyan College duo nearly outscored Bridgewater College's Eagles en route to a 52-34 lead at the break in the ODAC quarterfinal tournament game.

Virginia Wesleyan, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, went on to a 91-70 victory, eluding the upset bug that eliminated No. 1 seed Randolph-Macon College and No. 4 Lynchburg College earlier in the day.  R-MC fell to No. 8 seed Hampden-Sydney and Lynchburg fell 93-81 to No. 5 seed Eastern Mennonite University.

VWC (20-6) advances to Saturday's semifinal game at 8 p.m., facing the winner of a game between No. 11 seed Washington and Lee University and No. 3 Guilford College.

That offensive show by the "Moore-men" set the tone of the game as Virginia Wesleyan never trailed and maintained a lead of 20+ points throughout the second half.  Eight Marlins scored against the Eagles (14-12), led by Moore with a career-high 25 points. Woodmore followed with 20 and third team All-ODAC honoree Colby Heard (Virginia Beach/Tallwood) scored 12.

On-target shooting carried the Marlins through most of the game, but particularly in the first half with VWC hit for 50% from the field, including 57.1% from three-point range. The Marlins connected on 8-of-14 long rangers in the half, led by a 4-of-6 showing by Moore and a 3-of-4 effort by Woodmore.  That  was all part of a final production of 14-of-28 triples made by the Marlins, who increased their program record total of triples made this season to 264.

Woodmore's three triples increased his season total to 79, tying the VWC single-season record set during the 2001-02 campaign by James Wallace.  Woodmore now ranks No. 3 among VWC's all-time triple leaders with 232.  Moore upped his season total to 50, the third highest ever by a VWC rookie.

In addition to the solid field goal shooting showing, the Marlins also enjoyed their best production of the season at the free throw lines, hitting 86.4% (19-of-22).  Heard led that effort at 8-of-8, followed by Woodmore (4-of-4) and Moore (3-of-3).

Virginia Wesleyan jumped out to a 3-0 lead when sophomore Sedric Nady (Virginia Beach/Landstown) started Marlin scoring with a triple. Within the next three minutes Moore knocked down three consecutive treys to help Virginia Wesleyan to a 14-6 lead.

Ed Reddick (Virginia Beach/Floyd E. Kellam), Aaron Adams (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial), and Ronnie Thomas (Roanoke/Patrick Henry) came through with big scoring to help pull the Eagles within four at 16-12 with 14:28 remaining in the first half. But, it never got closer as Trent Batson (Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen), Heard, and Moore answered for VWC, opening up a 22-12 lead.

Aaron Clark (Virginia Beach/Tallwood) and Greg Montgomery (Virginia Beach/Princess Anne) contributed the scoring for the Marlins, Woodmore added five more points, and Virginia Wesleyan led 40-23 with 5:47 before halftime. Bridgewater never got closer than 10 points after that. The Eagles recorded only one field goal in the final four minutes of the half, and VWC pulled away to the 52-34 advantage at the break.

Virginia Wesleyan returned to the court to outscore Bridgewater 9-2 to start the first half and never looked back.  Cameron Owens (Centreville/Centreville) and Nady both hit triples in that opening run.

VWC helped its cause with a 46-31 advantage on the boards, led by Heard with 13 rebounds, his second highest total of the season. Woodmore followed with eight and Montgomery with six.

Tavis Stapleton (Carthage, Texas/Carthage) led Bridgewater with 16 points, Reddick tallied 14, Thomas added 13, and Daniel McClain (Falls Church/Marshall) scored 11.

--AMDG--