Posted: Jan 24, 2009
SALEM, Va. --- Virginia Wesleyan jumped out to 14-3 lead and never trailed as the Marlins defeated Roanoke, 82-64 at the Bast Center Saturday afternoon. The Maroons dropped to 15-3, 7-2 in the ODAC while VWC improved to 11-7 with a 5-4 mark in the conference.
Roanoke, ranked #21 in the D3Hoops.com Top-25 Poll, shot 32% from the floor, 24% in the opening period as Virginia Wesleyan went into the half with a commanding 24-point lead, 47-23. The Marlins shot 53% from the field in the first half.
VWC scored 25 points off 14 Maroon turnovers in addition to a 36-32 advantage in points in the paint. The Marlins took the all-time series lead, 27-26 and have won eight of the last nine meetings since 2004.
Zach Milton's tip-in capped a 6-0 run to make it 14-9 with 11:29 in the first half, but the Maroons wouldn't contest the Marlins the rest of the game.
After a Matt Crizer three-pointer made it 21-12 with eight minutes remaining in the half, VWC scored 14 unanswered points to give the Marlins a 35-12 lead at the 5:06 mark. The Marlins went into the half with a 47-23 lead.
Virginia Wesleyan extended its lead to a game-high 31 points after a 10-0 run to make it 69-38 with 9:52 to go.
Roanoke never laid down as they went on a 17-1 run to close it to within 15, as Parrish Walker scored the last six points during that span. That was as close as the Maroons could get in the second half as the Marlins won their seventh game in nine tries.
Kendrick Chittock had a team-high seven rebounds to help Roanoke win the rebounding war, 47-40. Logan Singleton led the Maroons off the bench with 10 points for his second-consecutive game with double-figures as Roanoke outscored VWC, 29-18 in bench scoring.
Walker led Roanoke with 13 points along with six rebounds. Melvin Felix finished with eight first-half points as he left the game early in the second half. Drew Gaeng finished with six points and a career-high five rebounds in addition to three assists and three steals. Curtis Peery ended up with seven points and five rebounds.
Aaron Tyson tied for 10th on the career blocked shots list with 62. He needs four more to move into eighth in that category. Peery passed Mike Baker '81 for 21st on the all-time scoring list and needs 17 more to pass Shane Abernathy '85 for 20th.
Quantrell Simmons led all players with 23 points and 10 rebounds for VWC. Stephen Fields had 15 points and seven rebounds including 6-of-6 from the line and a team-high three steals. Terrell Dixon and Julius Carlton each tossed in 11 points.
The men go on the road to Greensboro, NC to battle Guilford in ODAC action Wednesday, Jan. 28. The Maroons defeated the Quakers, 74-72 on Jan. 12 at the Bast Center. Roanoke leads the all-time series, 38-13. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
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