SALEM, Va. -- Virginia Wesley College senior Donald Vaughn (Woodbridge, Va./Dumfries Potomac) scored 28 points and sophomore D.J. Woodmore (Virginia Beach/Landstown) added another 20 as the Marlins overcame a slow start to posted a 98-83 victory over host Roanoke College in Old Dominion Athletic Conference play Saturday.

No. 3 Virginia Wesleyan College got the run it was hoping for to close out the first half. The Marlins (18-2, 10-1) started slow on the road in the C. Homer Bast Center where the host Maroons (6-15, 2-10) scored the first basket of the game and bolted out to a 10 point lead twice in the half.  Roanoke still led 34-26 with 6:27 remaining in the half when Virginia Wesleyan started to create the turnaround.

Junior Chris Teasley (Newport News, Va./Menchville) got things going with a triple, and after a Roanoke turnover junior Tre' Ford (Falls Church, Va./J.E.B. Stuart) scored on a layup.  Another Roanoke turnover was followed by a triple by Woodmore, tying the game at 34-all with 4:49 on the clock.

Seconds later it was Woodmore who gave VWC the lead for good, hitting  pair of free throws.  When the first half horn sounded, the Marlins led 46-38 following a 20-4 run in the final 6:27 of the half. 

Scoring by Kwasi Amponsah (Woodbridge, Va./Garfield) and Adam Kessler (Norfolk, Va./Maury) helped Roanoke stay close in the first three minutes of the second half, trailing just 50-44 with 17:49 remaining in the game.  But, close was not long as Virginia Wesleyan put together an 18-2 run to pull away for good.  Six Marlins scored in the run, led by senior Rakeem Davis (Chesapeake, Va./Deep Creek) and junior Chris Astorga (Suffolk, Va./Virginia Beach Cape Henry Collegiate) with four points each.  Senior Art Crew (Williamsburg, Va./Lafayette) and Woodmore knocked down triples and Astorga capped the run with a dunk.

That run pushed Virginia Wesleyan out to a 68-46 lead with 15:09 still remaining to be played. Roanoke never got closer than 15 points the rest of the game.

Vaughn put through 13-of-18 field goal attempts enroute to game-high scoring honors.  Woodmore hit 6-of-10 shots, including four from three-point range, to score 20.  Teasley finished with 16 points and Astorga added 11.  VWC hit 9-of-19 three-point attempts in  strong shooting game, netting 60% from the field.

Amponsah led Roanoke with 27 points, hitting 11-of-19 shots.  Kessler finished with 15 points and Logan Singleton (Roanoke, Va./Hidden Valley) added 12 points.  Roanoke also fared well from the field, connected on 52.4%.

Virginia Wesleyan competes again on Wednesday, Feb. 9, playing in Ashland, Va. against the Yellow Jackets of Randolph-Macon College in an ODAC game beginning at 7 p.m.

--AMDG--