VIRGINIA BEACH -- Ali Brown kept a keen eye on the movement of the basketball as Virginia Wesleyan College's Marlins attempted to find an opening in the Hampden-Sydney College defense in the final 34 seconds Saturday.
As the clock ticked down to 30 seconds, to 20, and hit 10, VWC floor leader Tre' Ford moved the ball to the left and took a couple steps toward the basket. As the H-SC defense moved toward the ball, the crafty Ford fired a pass to Brown, rolling in from the right.
Three seconds, two, and then one as Brown put the ball into the hoop on a layup to give No.3 Virginia Wesleyan a thrilling 73-71 Old Dominion Athletic Conference victory over a loud, standing room only crowd at the Jane P. Batten Student Center.
Brown's basket unleashed a deafening roar from the partisan crowd, as the Marlins celebrated a hard-fought victory that improved VWC's first-place record in the ODAC to 11-2. Virginia Wesleyan improved to 19-3 overall, while H-SC dropped to 17-6 overall and to 10-4 in the league.
While Brown (Hampton, Va./Kecoughtan) came through with the big basket to beat the horn, Ford (Falls Church, Va./J.E/B .Stuart) was a consistent threat to H-SC with his ability to run the VWC offense, play defense, rebound, and hit big shots. His assist to Brown for the game-winner was his sixth of the game. He also recorded a game-high four steals, pulled down nine rebounds, and scored 11 points.
He was one of three Marlins to score in double figures, led by senior Donald Vaughn (Woodbridge, Va./Dumfries Potomac), who led the Marlins inside with one of his best games of the season. He not only hit 10-of-22 field goals to score 23 points, his fourth 20+ effort in the last seven games, but he also led all rebounding with 12 caroms and recorded a game-high six blocks.
Sophomore D.J. Woodmore (Virginia Beach/Landstown) added 18 points, leading the Marlins with a 6-of-7 showing from the free throw lines.
As it turned out, Virginia Wesleyan needed all of it to defeat the Tigers for the second time this season. The Marlins led throughout most of the game, building a 12-point lead in the first half, using a 14-2 run to break away. Senior Jason Burns (Clinton, Md./Frederick Douglass) started it with a triple, Vaughn followed with a dunk, and Woodmore added another triple.
Harrison George (Raleigh, N.C./Leesville) and Cam Anderson (Charlottesville, Va./Blue Ridge) helped bring the Tigers within seven before halftime, but the first half ended the same way as the game, with Brown scoring to give Virginia Wesleyan a 40-28 lead at the break.
After shooting just 36.4% from the field in the first half, Hampden-Sydney, the No. 1 ranked team in the nation in field goal shooting accuracy, lived up to the ranking by scoring the nets for 62.5%, making 15-of-24 shots, including 3-of-4 triples.
Key scoring by Sasha Obradovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Hawaii Prep), Ben Jessee (Midlothian, Va./Cosby), and Khobi Williamson (Norfolk, Va./Maury) helped H-SC whittle the lead down until George nailed a triple that pulled the Tigers within a 66-65 scored with 2:33 on the clock. Seconds later H-SC had its first lead of the game since the 19:29 mark of the first half as Leon Hargrove (Raleigh, N.C./Middle Creek) scored following a Marlin turnover.
It was brief lead though as Woodmore rolled in on a layup to score to put VWC back in front for good. A Tiger turnover produced a foul that led to two pressure-packed free throws by Chris Teasley (Newport News, Va./Menchville) to push VWC in front 70-67 with 1:30 on the clock.
The teams traded free throws in the final second, before a George jumper tied the score at 71-all with 34 seconds on the clock.
Ford took the ball for the Marlins for the final seconds and VWC worked it around before a roaring crowd until Brown made himself open for the game-winning layup.
George led all scoring with 24 points, hitting 8-of-11 field goals and 7-of-9 free throws. Jessee was the only other Tiger in double-figure scoring, finishing with 15 points. Williamson helped H-SC's cause with 10 rebounds.
H-SC finished the game hitting 47.4%, but struggled at the free throw lines, hitting just 14-of-29 attempts. VWC fared better at the stripes, hitting 15-of-20 attempts, but had an off-day from three-point range, connecting on just 4-of-12 attempts.
Virginia Wesleyan returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 15, playing at Lynchburg College at 7 p.m. The Marlins close the regular season with two home games, hosting Emory & Henry College on Saturday, Feb. 18, and Washington & Lee University on Sunday, Feb. 19, both at 2 p.m. H-SC plays again on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at Guilford College at 7 p.m.
--AMDG--