SALEM, Virginia - The No. 16 VWU men's basketball team fell to the No. 5 Yellow-Jackets of Randolph-Macon College 72-57 in the ODAC Men's Basketball Championship game in Salem, Va. The Marlins move to 23-5 overall while No. 5 Yellow-Jackets of Randolph-Macon College are now 26-2 overall.

INSIDE THE SCORE
The game began with the Yellow-Jackets getting on the board first with a three-pointer 1:40 into the game. Virginia Wesleyan went toe-to-toe with Randolph-Macon over the next four minutes tying the score twice while exchanging the lead twice before R-MC opened a three-point lead 11-8 on a layup by Buzz Anthony. A layup by Percy Burt at 13:01 put the Marlins down by one, 11-10, but the Yellow-Jackets took off on a 14-0 run that put the score at 25-10 with five to play in the first half. Tim Fisher connected on a jumper to end the nine-minute scoreless drought for the Marlins and started a 12-6 run through the remainder of the half to trail by nine points, 31-22 at the buzzer.

R-MC saw their lead grow to 13 points, 40-27 (17:17), early in the second half but VWU's Daniel Spencer went on a hot streak scoring nine of 11 points for the Marlins pulling them back within four, 42-38, of the Yellow-Jackets as the clock ticked under 14 minutes to play. Randolph-Macon put a stop to the Virginia Wesleyan run and went on a rally of their own scoring 12 unanswered points over a four-minute span to lead 54-38 with under ten to play. Virginia Wesleyan fought back within single digits following a layup by Fisher at 1:39 on the clock that put the score at 65-54, but time was not on their side as the Marlins fell to the Yellow Jackets 72-57.

NO. 16 VIRGINIA WESLEYAN LEADERS
The Marlins were led by Daniel Spencer with 19 points shooting 8-of-13 from the field. Tim Fisher and Corey Pelham joined Spencer in double-figures with 13 and 10 points respectively. 

NO. 5 RANDOLPH-MACON LEADERS
The Yellow-Jackets were led by Buzz Anthony with 23 points shooting 8-of-14 from the field. Terry Woods (14) and Miles Mallory (12) both contributed double-digit points coming off the bench for the Yellow-Jackets. 

KEY MOMENT
The key moment of the game came in a four-minute window during which Randolph-Macon went on a rally scoring 12 unanswered to lead 54-38 with under ten to play.

AWARDS AND HONORS
Tim Fisher and Daniel Spencer earned All-Tournament honors.

UP NEXT
No. 16 Virginia Wesleyan Marlins await the news on if they will earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament which begins this Friday, March 6. The Marlins will learn of their fate tomorrow, Monday, March 2, at 12:30 on the ncaa.com website.