VIRGINIA BEACH -- Good teams survive pressure.
They produce the plays at both ends of the court crucial to winning ballgames. Most of the time those momentum changing events are produced by special players who can step in at any notice to give the team what it needs.
Ed Roberts (Chesapeake, Va./Deep Creek) (right) was that special player Wednesday for the No. 3 ranked Virginia Wesleyan Marlins. He scored a career-high 16 points, hitting two big triples in the closing minutes of the game against Hampden-Sydney College to help guide the Marlins to a thrilling 69-61 victory at the Jane P. Batten Student Center.
But he wasn't alone.
Sophomore Tre' Ford (Falls Church, Va./J.E.B. Stuart), a floor general, also connected on a big time triple that virtually slammed any hope on an H-SC comeback. Ford's triple pushed VWC into a 67-58 lead with 1:30 on the clock.
"Those threes by Ed and Tre' down the stretch were huge," said VWC head coach Dave Macedo. "But, Ed was the difference maker for us tonight. He played an outstanding game on both ends of the court and really wanted the ball. He exhibited outstanding leadership."
That leadership displayed itself throughout an intense game as H-SC (7-4, 0-3) kept pressure on the Marlins (13-0, 4-0) from start to finish. Ru White (Chesterfield, Va./L.C. Bird) and Ben Jessee (Midlothian, Va./Cosby) guided the Tigers early, before highly skilled Harrison George (Raleigh, N.C./Leesville)started to take over. The Marlins led throughout most of the first half, before George scored the final four points of the half to give H-SC a 32-29 lead at the break.
It was the first time in 13 games that Virginia Wesleyan trailed at halftime.
Virginia Wesleyan, now riding the best start in program history, tied the game with the first basket of the second half, a triple from Chris Astorga (Suffolk, Va./Virginia Beach Cape Henry). The Tigers tied the score three times in the next two minutes, before VWC took the lead on a jumper by junior Rakeem Davis (Chesapeake, Va./Deep Creek).
The Marlins stretched their lead to six points in the next several minutes, before a timely triple by Patrick Corrigan (Richmond, Va./Collegiate) sparked a 7-0 Tiger surge for a 51-50 lead. Step in Ed Roberts, who returned the lead to VWC with a triple off a Chris Teasley (Newport News, Va./Menchville) assist with 7:37 remaining to be played.
VWC never trailed again, but H-SC did knot the score at 53-all on a pair of George free throws. The Marlins put together six unanswered points to push out to a 59-53 lead, but the Tigers would not go away. A big triple from Jessee and a George free throw cut the deficit to 59-56, before Roberts hit again. This time he nailed the triple off an assist by Donald Vaughn (Woodbridge, Va./Potomac Dumfries) with 2:08 on the clock.
The roar from the crowd had barely subsided when an H-SC turnover gave the ball back to the Marlins, who started to wrap things up with the triple by Ford. VWC enjoyed its largest lead of the game at 68-58 following a Roberts free throw on the second attempt of a two-shot foul.
After knotting the game at 53, H-SC could not keep things rolling. The Tigers turned the ball over three times, had one shot blocked, hit only 2-of-4 free throws and connected on just 2-of-8 field goal attempts.
George finished with 27 points for the Tigers, hitting 11-of-20 field goal attempts. He also co-lead the Tigers with eight rebounds, sharing that lead with White and Colin O'Neil (Fort Leavenworth, Kan./Leavenworth). White finished with 12 points and Corrigan with 11.
Roberts connected on 5-of-8 shots, including 4-of-5 triples, to lead Virginia Wesleyan. Astorga and rookie DJ Woodmore (Virginia Beach/Landstown) both finished with 12 points. Vaughn led all rebounding with 10. He also recorded three blocks.
H-SC turned the ball over 19 times, while VWC committed 10 miscues.
Virginia Wesleyan returns to the court on Saturday, Jan. 8, hosting the Generals of Washington & Lee University at 2 p.m. The Generals improved to 10-2 Wednesday by knocking off No. 10 Eastern Mennonite University 93-92 in Lexington.
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