VIRGINIA BEACH -- Thrilling, exhausting, heart-breaking ... take your pick.

There was a little of it all Wednesday for basketball fans at the Jane P. Batten Student Center where an aggressive defensive stand in the final seconds by Virginia Wesleyan College's Marlins thwarted an upset bid by the Randolph College WildCats.

Virginia Wesleyan, the nation's No. 2 ranked team, posted a 53-50 Old Dominion Athletic Conference victory, but only after taking the ball away from the Cats with two seconds remaining.  Randolph (9-4, 4-2) trailed 51-50 and had the ball with 13 seconds on the clock.

Buoyed by a boisterous VWC crowd on its feet chanting of  "defense, defense," the Marlins (15-0, 6-0) buckled down and prevented the 'Cats from getting the basketball into any position for a play. As the seconds ticked off, the Marlin pressure intensified and eventually produced a Randolph turnover, followed by a foul.

Junior Donald Vaughn (Woodbridge, Va./Dumfries Potomac)nailed two free throws with two seconds remaining to increase the VWC advantage to 53-50, but it was not over. After a timeout the Cats' attempted a full-court pass to set up a triple, but the ball sailed out of bounds. VWC's attempt to get the ball into play still with two seconds on the clock resulted in a steal near midcourt by Randolph's Pete Hamilton (Roanoke, Va./Cave Spring), who heaved the ball toward the basket as the final horn sounded. 

The aim was good, but the heave too hard as it bounced off the back of the rim.

"This is the kind of game when you see what your team's made of," said VWC head coach Dave Macedo. "Our backs were against the wall all night long, but no one gave up.  Shots did not fall like we're used to, but the guys still came up with the plays when we needed them.  This was a good test for us, a reminder that every team we will play now will play hard against us.  We have to respond to that and tonight we did."

It was the first time this season that the Marlins did not own a comfortable lead in the second half as Randolph repeatedly answered VWC scoring, led in part by Malcolm Nelson (Richmond, Va./Trinity Episcopal). The contest was tied 15 times overall, eight in the second half, and the lead changed hands eight times.

A Nelson layup gave Randolph its final lead at 50-48 with 4:18 on the clock.  Both teams missed shots in the next couple of minutes, before VWC rookie DJ Woodmore (Virginia Beach/Landstown) drew a foul and hit one of two free throws to pull the Marlins within a 50-49 score. 

Sophomore Tre' Ford (Falls Church, Va./J.E.B. Stuart) emerged with the crucial offensive play for VWC in the final seconds when he followed a Randolph turnover with a layup that gave the Marlins a 51-50 lead that set up the thrilling finish.

Sophomore Chris Astorga (Suffolk, Va./Virginia Beach Cape Henry) and Woodmore scored 10 points each to lead Virginia Wesleyan, which hit only 33% from the field for the game, 29% in the first half.  The Marlins launched 21 triples, but connected on only four.

But, VWC helped itself by outrebounding the 'Cats, 37-33, led by Vaughn with 11.  Vaughn also blocked five shots.  Nelson pulled down eight rebounds to lead Randolph, whose leading board man, Derrick Woods-Morrow (Greensboro, N.C./Northeast Guilford) sat on the bench in foul trouble.  Nelson and Colton Hunt (Buford, Ga./Smoky Mountain) led Randolph scoring with 13 points each.

Randolph started the game impressively and opened up a 16-9 lead.  But, juniors Ali Brown (Hampton, Va./Kecoughtan), Rakeem Davis (Chesapeake, Va./Deep Creek) and Jason Burns (Clinton, Md./Frederick Douglas) emerged with key scoring for VWC to help wipe out the deficit.  The score was tied three times in the final eight minutes of the half before Randolph took a 30-27 halftime lead on a Hunt jumper.

Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Saturday, Jan. 15, playing at Roanoke College in a conference game beginning at 2 p.m.

--AMDG--