VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- The Virginia Wesleyan Men's basketball team defeated their North Carolina cousins the Battling Bishops of North Carolina Wesleyan University on Saturday afternoon in the annual 'Battle of the Wesleyan's' matchup. The Marlins held off the Bishops 79-70 to improve to 4-0 on the season.
Amarion Wilson led VWU with a career-high 22 points as the Marlins held the lead over the Battling Bishops from the very start.
INSIDE THE SCORE
Result: Virginia Wesleyan 79 - North Carolina Wesleyan 70
Records: Virginia Wesleyan 4-0 | North Carolina Wesleyan 2-2
Location: Virginia Beach, VA | TowneBank Arena
HOW IT HAPPENED
After winning the jump ball Virginia Wesleyan put the peddle to the metal and took the early 7-0 lead before North Carolina Wesleyan found its first basket just before the 16-minute mark. The Marlins went on another 7-0 run taking a 14-2 lead by the 14:35 mark. Over the next seven minutes, the Battling Bishops went on a 13-6 run pulling within five points, 20-15, with 7:12 remaining in the first half. Virginia Wesleyan responded with a 12-4 rally of their own reclaiming a double-digit lead, 32-19, with just over two minutes remaining in the opening half. NCWU went on a 7-0 run to close the opening half as the teams entered the halftime break with the score sitting at 32-26.
North Carolina Wesleyan came out of the break to pull within three points, 34-31, in the opening minute and a half after scoring five points while holding Virginia Wesleyan to two. The Battling Bishops stayed within single digits of the Marlins until the 13:34 mark when
Omari DeVeaux scored a layup that put the score at 48-38. VWU held on to a double-digit average throughout the remainder of the game but saw the Bishops pull within six, 54-48, at the 10:55 mark, but by the 10-minute mark, VWU led by 13 points, 61-48, after a 7-0 run. The Battling Bishops outscored the Marlins in the last 10 minutes of the game going on a 22-18 run, however, the Marlins held on to win the game 79-70.
KEY STATS
The Marlins were led by
Amarion Wilson with a career-high 22 points.
Omari DeVeaux added 16 points, while
Eric Rowland added ten points of his own.
Khai Seargeant,
Anthony Jackson, and
Jordan Crump each tallied eight points apiece.
Amari Moorer led VWU with six rebounds, while Wilson added five.
UP NEXT
Virginia Wesleyan returns to the court on Sunday, Nov. 27, when they travel to Ferrum, VA, to open up ODAC competition against the Panther of Ferrum College. Tip-off is set for 2 PM.
