SALEM, Va. --- Top-seeded Virginia Wesleyan held off the Runnin Royals in the ODAC Tournament Quarterfinals with an 83-65 win to advance to the semifinals.  The Marlins will face Randolph College on Saturday at 6:00pm.

The two teams went back and forth early on, with David Falk converting a three-point play to put EMU ahead 14-9.  Dorian Valentine hit a layup at 12:43 to give the men what turned out to be their final lead at 16-14.

Virginia Wesleyan responded with a 7-0 run to take over the lead, and then closed the half on a 14-6 streak to lead 40-28 at halftime.

The Marlins scored the first three points of the second stanza before EMU caught fire.  Senior Owen Longacre  started a surge with two free throws with 18:05 remaining.  The Royals scored nine straight to get, then after a VWC bucket, Andrew Thorne hit a triple and R.J. Sims converted a three-point play to cap a 15-2 surge.

In a span of less than four minutes, the men slashed a 15-point deficit down to two at 45-43, but Virginia Wesleyan had the answer.  The Marlins scored the next nine points in the game to expand their cushion back up to 54-43.

EMU came back and whittled the lead to six when Sims canned a three pointer with 9:05 to go, making it 58-52.  But VWC had the answer again, scoring a quick five in a row.

The Royals were still within seven points with 4:04 left, when Sims hit a free throw to make it 67-60.  But a turnover and a missed shot turned into six straight points for Virginia Wesleyan and the men never recovered.  They scored just five points over the final four minutes as the Marlins closed on a 16-5 run to provide the deceptive final margin.

EMU shot 40% from the floor including a solid 41% from outside, hitting 7-of-17 three pointers.  But, free throws and turnovers cost EMU.  The Royals committed 20 miscues compared to just nine for VWC.  At the free throw line, EMU was 14-for-25 for 56%, while the Marlins hit 22-of-28 for 79%.

Sims scored 16 of his team high 18 points in the second half.  In his final collegiate game, Thorne drilled a career best four three pointers and tallied 16 points.  He finishes with 1,053 points in his career and is No. 20 on the EMU Career Scoring list and just missed the top 15 of the Career Rebounding list with his 527 boards.

Falk pulled down a game high 11 rebounds to go with his six points and three assists.  Longacre was good for six points and six boards in his final outing.  Adam Burroughs  had three assists.

Chris Teasley carried the scoring burden for the Marlins, going 12-for-18 from the field for 28 points.  VWC's two leading scorers, Chris Astorga and DJ Woodmore combined for just 16 points on just 4-for-20 shooting.

--- This release is courtesy of the Eastern Mennonite sports information department. ---
www.emuroyals.com