NORFOLK, Virginia - The Virginia Wesleyan University men's basketball team fell to the Monarchs of Old Dominion University 77-57 in their first game of the 2020-2021 season. The Marlins drop 0-1 while the Monarchs are now 4-2. 

INSIDE THE SCORE
The game began with the Monarchs going on a 9-0 run before the Marlins got on the scoreboard off a 3-pointer by Tyree Golston. ODU increased their lead over VWU to 14 points, 17-3, when Miles Wallace hit a three just before the 11-minute mark putting the score at 17-6. After a basket by ODU's Austin Trice, the Marlins put together a string of five points off two free throws from Lamont Steward and a three from Damon Showers bringing VWU within eight points as they trailed, 19-11, with 8:49 remaining in the half. The Monarchs took over in the final eight minutes of the first half as they increased their lead to 20 points at the halftime horn leading 43-23 at the buzzer.

The second half of the contest saw Old Dominion increase its lead to 24 points, 52-28 by the 14:21 mark, following a dunk by Kalu Ezikpe. After a media timeout with 12:37 remaining, the Marlins settled down and chipped away at the Monarchs lead pulling within 11 points, 54-43 with 9:22 remaining. ODU pulled away again averaging a 14-point lead through the remaining minutes and ended with a 20-point advantage at the horn putting the final score at 77-57.

VIRGINIA WESLEYAN LEADERS
The Marlins were led by redshirt senior Lamont Steward with 12 points and eight rebounds. Transfer Marcus Stephens added nine points and a pair of rebounds, and sophomore Miles Wallace rounded out the top three scorers with eight points. Tim Fisher added seven points, four assists, and five rebounds before fouling out of the contest. 

OLD DOMINION LEADERS
The Monarchs were led by Austin Trice who scored a career-high 27 points going 12-16 from the field and pulling in 12 rebounds. Kalu Ezikpe and Joe Reece joined Trice in double digit scores with 15 and 10 points respectively. Senior Xavier Green led the Monarchs in assists dishing out eight throughout the contest. 

KEY MOMENT
The key moment of the game came in the final nine minutes of action as the Monarchs extended their lead back out to 20 points to win the game 77-57.

COACHES COMMENTS
"I would say we competed much harder in the second half," said head coach Dave Macedo. "I learned a lot about our team. I would say this game motivated our guys to be better moving forward and stay in shape over the break. You know this was a tough challenge out of the gate and after five days of practice I give our guys a lot of credit. We just came out and they [ODU] really jumped on us in the first half and we weren't ready for their toughness. But I think we will get better moving forward. We continue to learn a lot about our team and I am excited to coach this group. I am excited to get back in the gym with them real soon."

UP NEXT
The Virginia Wesleyan Marlins will return home for the holiday break before returning in the new year to begin practice for their next game on January 20 at Salisbury University.