No. 16 Marlins Drop ODAC Opener, 79-77

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The No. 16 Virginia Wesleyan College men's basketball team dropped a 79-77 decision to Emory & Henry College Saturday in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) opener for both teams.

The loss was the first by the Marlins since an 88-85 loss at Emory & Henry in 2008-09, breaking an 11-game winning streak over the Wasps. E&H had not defeated the Marlins in Virginia Beach since the 1997-98 season.

The Marlins got on the board first when Khory Moore scored a layup on the opening possession of the game. The two squads went back and forth as the first six shot attempts of the game found the bottom of the net, resulting in a 7-6 Marlin lead with 18:24 left in the first.

The Marlins held a 14-12 lead with 14:43 to play in the half following a pair of Keijon Honore free throws, but the Wasps ran off a 10-0 run over the next 1:43 to go up 22-14. Aaron Ferguson had five points in the run while Myles Turner added three and Alic Wynn, two. Emory & Henry led the rest of the way.

A big advantage for the Wasps in the first half was shooting percentage as the guests shot 61.3% (19-31) in the first half, posting a percentage north of 70% the majority of the half.

Virginia Wesleyan had a chance late, trailing 79-71 with 3:41 to play when a pair of Moore free throws cut the E&H lead to six points. Josh Williams converted a fast break layup on the next possession before a Lamont Steward jumper cut the lead to a single possession, 79-77, with 1:30 left.

Following a stop and rebound by Steward, the Marlins called a timeout with 14 seconds left. VWC ran a play for Moore, but a good look at the victory fell just shy.

Emory & Henry stayed hot throughout the contest, shooting 51.6% for the game. Virginia Wesleyan missed eight free throws in the contest, going 66.7% from the charity stripe against the Wasps.

Wynn led Emory & Henry (4-1/1-0) with 20 points and seven rebounds while Turner tacked on 18 points, six rebounds, and six assists.

Moore led with a game high, 28 points, to go with six rebounds for the Marlins while Josh Williams tallied a career high of 16 points and Kaelin Poe contributed 14.

Moore moved into eight place on the Virginia Wesleyan all-time scoring list (1,531), passing Chris Astorga '13 (1,524).

No. 16 Virginia Wesleyan (3-2/0-1) travels to N.C. Wesleyan Monday night for a 7:30 p.m. start.