VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia - The No. 15 VWU men's basketball team defeated the Wildcats of Randolph College 72-53 on Saturday afternoon in an ODAC matchup at the Jane P. Batten Student Center in Virginia Beach, Va. The Marlins move to 18-3 overall and 10-2 in ODAC competition, while the Wildcats are now 7-15 and 3-10. 

INSIDE THE SCORE
The game began with Corey Pelham hitting his signature three, putting the Marlins on the board first. VWU grew its lead to ten-points, 13-3, following a layup by Jordan White at the 12:39 mark. A three-pointer by Jerry Goodman closed the gap to single-digits and started an 11-3 run for the WildCats that put them within two points of the Marlins, 16-14, with five minutes to play. A layup by Percy Burt ended a six-minute scoreless drought for the Marlins who closed out the first half on a 7-4 run and led 23-18 at the break.

Virginia Wesleyan settled down in the second half after the intermission and came out on a 10-7 run to lead 33-25 with the clock ticking under 17-minutes to play. Randolph stayed with the Marlins over the next three minutes as VWU narrowly led a 7-6 run to maintain a nine-point advantage of 40-31 following Evan Makle's jumper at 14:40. VWU went on a 10-0 run, capped off by back-to-back three-pointers from Tim Fisher, over the next three minutes to lead 50-31. The WildCats clawed their way back within 12-points trailing 59-47 at the 7:30 mark following a 16-9 rally by Randolph. The Marlins took control from there as they held Randolph scoreless the last three minutes of the contest and closed out the game on a 13-6 rally to win 72-53. 

NO. 15 VIRGINIA WESLEYAN LEADERS
The Marlins were led by Tim Fisher with a double-double of 21 points and 18 rebounds, 16 coming on defense. Corey Pelham and Percy Burt joined Fisher in double-figures with 17 and 13 points respectively. Pelham tallied five assists and Fisher led all players with four blocks.

RANDOLPH LEADERS
The Wildcats were led by Justin Dula with 18 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double of his own. Evan Makle was the next highest-scoring WildCat with nine points. 

KEY MOMENT
The key moment of the game came in the three-minute window between 14:40 and 11:45 of the second half when the Marlins went on a ten-zero rally opening a 19-point lead.

UP NEXT
No. 15 Virginia Wesleyan is back on the road for a midweek contest at Hampden-Sydney on Wednesday, February 12. The Marlins and Tigers tipoff at 7 p.m in Hampden-Sydney, Va.