Marlins Advance to Semifinals with 102-93 Win

SALEM, Va. – The fifth-seeded Virginia Wesleyan College men's basketball team took down fourth-seeded Lynchburg College on Thursday.  The Marlins won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Quarterfinal game 102-93, and advanced to play in Saturday's semifinal game.

The Hornets established a three-point lead at 10-7 at 16:33, and pushed it to 12-9 a minute later.  Khory Moore then tallied five-straight points to take a two-point lead.  Baskets were traded, but Lamont Steward hit two three-point shots, which gave VWC the 20-16 lead with 13:07 left.

Lynchburg responded and tied the score at 22, but Tim Jones (traditional) and Andre Banks (behind the arc) each had three-point plays to bring the margin to six.  It grew to seven, after Moore hit another shot from downtown, but the Hornets answered with a 9-0 run.

Moore grabbed the lead back at 38-37 with another three with 2:46 left.  Virginia Wesleyan then ended the half with an 8-4 burst, going into the half with a 46-41 advantage.

The game went back and forth over the first four minutes of the second half.  However, Zach Burnett made three-straight layups for the Hornets, cutting the deficit to two at the 15:38 mark.  But the Marlins responded with eight in-a-row, including five from Moore, which put the team up 64-54.

The exchange of runs continued, as Jay Allen scored seven of nine, bringing the score to 66-61 with 12:27 remaining in the game.  The Marlin advantage stayed around five points for several minutes, until Jones hit a three with 7:54 left, bringing the margin to nine.  It grew to 13 after Banks hit a three with 5:58, and Jones made it 14 with a pair from the free throw line at 4:21.

Lynchburg tried to come back over the final minutes of the game, but the Marlins hit nine free throws and Jones added a layup during that stretch.  It kept the lead around 10, as Virginia Wesleyan advanced to the semifinals.

Moore had a big day for the Marlins, scoring 34 points and grabbing eight rebounds.  Jones added 22 and nine.  Banks and Steward joined those two in double-figures with 16 and 10 respectively.  Kaelin Poe paced the way on the boards, grabbing 11 for VWC while also chipping in nine points.  On the day, the Marlins outrebounded Lynchburg (16-10 overall) 50-42 in the win.

Virginia Wesleyan (19-8) will play Saturday in the first game of the day.  The Marlins will play top-seed Guilford College (21-5) at 1 p.m.

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