VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia - The No. 18 VWU men's basketball team defeated the Royals of Eastern Mennonite University 70-61 on Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at the Jane P. Batten Student Center in Virginia Beach, Va. The Marlins move to 21-4 overall and 13-3 in ODAC competition, while the Royals are now 5-20 and 3-13. VWU clinched the second seed and a first-round bye heading into next week's Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament in Salem, VA.

INSIDE THE SCORE
The game began with the Royals getting on the board first but saw the Marlins tie the game at five-all before the first minute of play concluded. EMU went on an 8-2 run taking a 13-7 lead as the clock ticked under 16 minutes. VWU chipped away at the EMU lead over the next ten minutes and knotted the score at 24-all on a lay-up by Kelvin Nicholson with 6:24 left in the opening half. The teams then went through a three-minute window where the Royals would score a basket to take the lead but the Marlins would answer knotting the score twice before EMU opened a four-point lead that they carried through to the end of the period heading into the break with a 39-35 lead. 

Virginia Wesleyan had to play a bit of catch-up with Eastern Mennonite who opened up a seven-point lead following a three-pointer shortly after the resumption of play. The Marlins needed six minutes to climb back and took their first lead since the opening minute of the game on a pair of free throws by Daniel Spencer that put the score at 48-47. VWU opened a four-point lead, 51-47, but EMU quickly turned the tide as they went on an 8-0 run taking a 55-51 lead at the 10-minute mark. The Marlins answered with a 7-2 run that put them ahead by one, 58-57, and gave them the lead that they held on to for the remainder of the game. Five free-throws, two baskets, and a Spencer three contributed to the Marlins final 12 points of the game as they held on to win 70-61 on senior day.

NO. 18 VIRGINIA WESLEYAN LEADERS
The Marlins were led by Percy Burt with a career-high 23 points while adding 10 rebounds for a double-double. Daniel Spencer tallied 18 points and Tim Fisher added 13 as the last Marlin in double-digits. 

EASTERN MENNONITE LEADERS
The Royals were led by Tim Jones with 16 points in the game while DJ Hill and Kobi Alexander each added nine points apiece. Hill led the team with 10 rebounds including nine on defense. 

KEY MOMENT
The key moment of the game came in the last ten minutes of the game as the Marlins scored 19 points to the Royals five coming from behind and winning the game 70-61.

UP NEXT
No. 18 Virginia Wesleyan Marlins clinched the second seed and a first-round bye heading into next week's Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament in Salem, VA. They will play the winner of the Ferrum/Emory & Henry game, that takes place on Tuesday evening, on Friday, February 28, at 6 PM in the Salem Civic Center.