BRIDGEWATER, Virginia - The No. 18 VWU men's basketball team defeated the Eagles of Bridgewater College 88-76 on Saturday afternoon in ODAC competition in Bridgewater, Va. The Marlins move to 15-3 overall and 7-2 in ODAC competition, while the Eagles are now 6-12 and 2-7. 

INSIDE THE SCORE
The game began with the Marlins scoring the first seven points of the game before the Eagles found their first bucket at the 16:32 mark that put the score at 7-3. Four consecutive three-pointers, three from Jordan Crump, by the Marlins and two baskets, including a dunk from Percy Burt, put Virginia Wesleyan ahead by 20 points, 23-3 with 10:37 remaining. A three-pointer from Bridgewater's Davrion Grier ended the Eagles scoring drought and spurred a 17-3 run the pulled BC within six points of VWU who led 26-20 with 4:47 until halftime. In the remaining minutes of the first half, the Marlins scored 15 points to the Eagles 14, and the teams entered the break with VWU leading 41-34.

Bridgewater came out of halftime fighting pulling within three-points of Virginia Wesleyan twice, the last at 50-47, before the Marlins went on a 12-1 run over five minutes that put VWU ahead 62-48 following a three from Corey Pelham. The Eagles remained calm and chipped away at the VWU lead to sit six-points behind, 66-60, with six and a half minutes remaining. The Marlins answered with another 12-3 rally opening up a 15-point lead, 78-63, with 3:30 left to play. Virginia Wesleyan scored 10 more points in the remaining minutes while Bridgewater put up 13, including two three-pointers in the last 42 seconds of the game from Chandler Murray, but the Marlins held off the Eagles to win 88-76.

NO. 18 VIRGINIA WESLEYAN LEADERS
The Marlins were led by Daniel Spencer with 23 points as he shot 9-of-11 from the field. Corey Pelham added 19 points and eight assists. Jordan Crump scored a career-high 15 points making five of seven attempts from beyond the three-point arc and Percy Burt put up 14 points and seven rebounds. Tim Fisher led the rebounding game with 13 including 11 defensive boards.

BRIDGEWATER LEADERS
The Eagles were led by Chandler Murray with 30 points shooting 11-of-22 from the field and 7-of-10 from three-point range. Davrion Grier tallied 17 points and a team-high 11 rebounds and Will Bowser added 10 points.

KEY MOMENT
The key moment of the game came in the second half between the 6:30 to 3:30 marks when VWU went on a 12-3 run taking a 15-point lead that was too much for the Eagles to claw back from.

UP NEXT
No. 18 Virginia Wesleyan has the week off before returning to action on Saturday, February 1, at the Jane P. Batten Student Center in Virginia Beach, Va. The Marlins will host the Hornets from the University of Lynchburg at 2 PM and during halftime of the game will be a recognition of the 2020 Hall of Fame Class.