VWC Faces Franklin & Marshall on Saturday
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. --- Donald Vaughn led
four Marlins in double-figures on Friday evening as Virginia
Wesleyan rolled to a 93-63 victory over Delaware Valley College in
the first round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball
Tournament.
The Marlins return to the Jane P. Batten Student Center on
Saturday, March 5, for a 7:00 p.m. meeting with Franklin &
Marshall College, which won Friday's early game, 69-56, over North
Carolina Wesleyan College.
Playing on their home court in the NCAA tournament for the first
time since 2007, the Marlins rode momentum provided in part by a
vocal, overflow crowd in the Batten Center to take control of the
game in the second half. VWC (24-4) led 41-27 at halftime,
but enjoyed only a 50-42 five minutes into the second half after
DVC's Chris Ellis hit a jumper.
But Ed Roberts, who has come off the bench repeatedly during the
season to spark Virginia Wesleyan with big time triples, did it
again for the Marlins. He answered Ellis' bucket with a
three-pointer off an assist from rookie DJ Woodmore and the Marlins
were sailing. It started an 18-2 VWC scoring blitz that
virtually put the game on ice.
Junior Rakeem Davis contributed six points in the run, while Chris
Teasley added five more and Woodmore nailed another timely trey
that helped keep the Marlins in command. Scoring by Jeremy
Beckett put the Aggies back on the scoreboard, but Roberts and
sophomore Tre' Ford came back with threes for the Marlins, who
maintained a 20+ point lead through the final 6:38.
Virginia Wesleyan enjoyed a standout night from three-point range,
hitting 11-of-24 attempts, led by Woodmore and Roberts with three
each. The Marlins also fared well from the foul lines,
hitting 22-of-29 from the stripe, led by Chris Astorga, Teasley,
Woodmore and Davis with four each.
Vaughn ruled inside for the Marlins, finishing with 31 points,
five rebounds and three blocks. His block total increases his
season mark to 56 and moves him into a tie with Norman Billups
(1977-81) as VWC's all-time leader in swats.
Woodmore finished with 15 points, Davis added 12 points and
Astorga tallied 10. Ford led the Marlins with five
assists.
Beckett led Delaware Valley with 25 points and 11 rebounds. James
Jones came through for 20 points, hitting 8-of-8 from the charity
stripe, and Ellis finished with 12 points and a game-high 14
rebounds.
VWC won the battle on the boards 49-40, led by Astorga with 11 and
Davis with 10.
This release is courtesy of the Virgini Wesleyan
College sports information department.