Virginia Wesleyan to Face Hampden-Sydney in Semifinals 

SALEM, Va. --- Juniors Chris Astorga and Chris Teasley combined for 38 points on 13-of-23 shots from the field Friday to power Virginia Wesleyan College's No. 1 seeded Marlins to an 87-63 victory over Washingtonn & Lee University's Generals in the quarterfinal round of the 2012 Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship tournament at the Civic Center.

Virginia Wesleyan, now 23-3 overall, advances to Saturday's 6 p.m. semifinal game against Hampden-Sydney College (18-7), which advanced with an 82-60 win over Lynchburg College's Hornets (15-10).

J.D. Ey (Charlotte, N.C./Myer Park) gave Washington & Lee the game's first basket, and early lead, before senior Donald Vaughn (Woodbridge, Va./Dumfries Potomac) tied it for the Marlins.  Virginia Wesleyan took the lead for good seconds later on a layup by ODAC Player of the Year D.J. Woodmore (Virginia Beach/Landstown) off an assist from junior Tre' Ford (Falls Church, Va./J.E.B. Stuart).

Virginia Wesleyan pushed out to an 11-4 lead on a triple from Astorga (Suffolk, Va./Virginia Beach Cape Henry Collegiate) and followed with an 11-0 run that gave the Marlins a 16-point spread at 24-8 with 12:07 remaining to play in the half.  Astorga hit another three in the run and senior Art Crew (Williamsburg, Va./Lafayette) knocked down two triples to help catapult the Marlins into the big lead.

Washington & Lee never got closer than 13 points in the half and trailed by as many as 20 points several times before the halftime buzzer.  The Generals came back briefly behind Larry Whitaker (Barrett, Ill./Barrett) and Taylor Gilfillan (Raleigh, N.C./Enloe) to pull within 16, but Astorga came through for VWC at the buzzer with another triple to give the Marlins a 45-26 lead at the break.

VWC scored the first five points of the second half and pushed out to a 24 point lead, before Washington & Lee came back one last time to pull within 13 with 13:18 remaining to be played.  Javon McDonald (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) and Kevin Gill (Richmond, Va./Benedictine) hit key triples in the run.

Virginia Wesleyan recovered quickly however as Astorga put through another triple as the Marlins ignited on a 15-5 run to pull away from the Generals.

Astorga hit 7-of-14 shots, including 4-of-6 from long range, to lead all scoring with 23 points.  Teasley (Newport News, Va./Menchville) added another impressive shooting effort hitting 6-of-9 fielders and 3-of-3 triples, to add 15 points.  Woodmore tallied 12 points and recorded a game-high seven assists.  The Marlins recorded 20 assists overall, with Ford posting six.  Astorga also led the Marlins in rebounding with nine. Twelve Marlins played and 11 scored.

Whitaker led Washington & Lee with 20 points, hitting 9-of-15 from the field. Gill finished with 14 points, and Gilfillan tallied 10 to go with a team-best eight rebounds.

--- This release is courtesy of the Virginia Wesleyan College sports information department. ---
www.vwcathletics.com