VWC Downs St. Mary's in Front of Capacity Crowd
NCAA Interactive Bracket (updated thru 1st/2nd Rounds)
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. --- Virginia Wesleyan College's basketball Marlins are headed to the round of 16 for the second consecutiv year.
The Marlins will play in a pod that will include Illinois' Wheaton College, Washington-state's Whitworth College, and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The site of those games, as well as the game times, has yet to be determined.
For now however, the Marlins are enjoying the second round victory posted before a noisy, overflow crowd at the Jane P. Batten Sudent Center.
VWC (26-3) bounded out to an 11-5 lead, before the Seahaaks (20-8) rallied back to take 14-13 lead on a jumper by Jeff Haus (Pittsburg, Pa./North Allegheny). But once VWC's Donald Vaughn (Woodbridge, Va/Dumfries Potomac) hit a free throw to tie the score and Chris Astorga (Suffolk, Va./Virginia Beach Cape Henry Collegiate) nailed a triple to give VWC a 17-14 lead, the Marlins never trailed again.
The Marlins rode an 11-3 surge to push in front 28-17 and VWC went on to post a 30-20 lead by halftime.
But the Seahawks were not finished, despite falling behind 46-27 with 10:46 remaining to play. St. Mary's began to apply the defensive pressure, forcing VWC turnovers that helped the 'Hawks pull all the way back to a 46-40 score wih 7:53 to go.
Virginia Wesleyan shook it off however and came back with key buckets from senior Rakeem Davis (Cheapeake, Va./Deep Creek), Ali Brown (Hampton, Va./Kecoughtan), D.J. Woodmore (Virginia Beach/Landstown), and Vaughn to reopen a 60-49 lead with 1:56 to play.
Four Marlins scored in double figures led by Chris Teasley (Newport News, Va./Mencvhille) with 13 points. Vaughn and Brown chipped in with 12 points each and Woodmore tallied 10. He and Brown also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds each.
Christian MacAuley led St. Mary's with 21 points and eight rebounds. Devn Spencer (Baltimore, Md./Towson Catholic) added 12 points.
--- This release is courtesy of the Virginia Wesleyan College sports information department. ---
www.vwcathletics.com