eiThe Virginia Wesleyan University men's basketball team (12-5, 7-1 ODAC) defeated conference foe Hampden-Sydney 76-66.
TJ East scored a career-high 22 points, shooting 5-for-9 from the field, 1-for-4 from beyond the arc, and 11-for-12 from the free throw line, with four rebounds, one assist, one block, and one steal.
Demeir Pollard also had a stellar night, scoring 20 points, shooting 5-for-7 from the field, 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, and 7-for-8 from the free throw line, with six rebounds, one assist, and three steals.
Amari Moorer tallied another double-double, scoring 17 points with 12 rebounds, he shot 7-for-12 from the field, 1-for-2 from deep, and 2-for-4 from the charity stripe, added four assists, two steals, and one block.
Hampden-Sydney started the game strong, building a 9-2 lead in the first four minutes of the game, but the Marlins countered with a 10-0 run to take a 12-9 lead at the 12:52 mark in the first half. Over the next two minutes, VWU outscored the Tigers 5-3 to take a 17-12 lead with 11 minutes left in the half.
The Tigers responded with a 10-0 run to take a 22-17 lead at the 7:56 mark, but VWU countered with an 11-2 run over the next five minutes to hold on to a four-point lead at 28-24. However, HSC rallied with a 10-0 run to end the first half with a 34-28 lead.
Coming out of the break, the Tigers scored the first four points of the half to increase their lead to 38-28, but Virginia Wesleyan rallied with a 16-4 run, fueled by three buckets from deep and 60 percent from the floor to take a 44-42 lead with 12:08 left in the game.
Over the next three minutes, the Marlins continued to apply pressure and outscored the host 8-2 to hold a 52-44 lead at the 8:49 mark. The Tigers' offense caught fire over the next two minutes, outscoring the Marlins 9-4 to cut the lead to 56-53. The next three minutes saw the teams only shooting free throws, that increase the Marlins' lead to 62-56 with 3:29 left in the game. With limited scoring, VWU was able to go on a 5-2 run to hold a healthy 67-58 lead at the 1:11 mark in the game.
In the last minute of the game, the Marlins made clutch free throws, shooting 9-for-10 from the stripe to conserve the lead and seal the 76-66 win over Hampden-Sydney.
