LYNCHBURG, Va. -- While it was a big road win for the No. 1 ranked Virginia Wesleyan College Marlins on Tuesday, it was also a milestone night for junior All-American DJ Woodmore.

Woodmore (Virginia Beach/Landstown) netted 22 points in VWC's 72-65 Old Dominion Athletic Conference victory over the host Hornets of Lynchburg College to not only lead all scoring, but to also surpass the 1,000 point plateau. He now has 1,008 career points. He becomes the 26th member of VWC's 1,000 Point Club, just one game after Chris Teasley (Newport News/Menchville) entered the group in the Marlins' win over Frostburg State University.  

Woodmore, Teasley and Chris Astorga (Suffolk/Virginia Beach Cape Henry Collegiate)give VWC its first trio of 1,000 point scorers to compete for the Marlins in the same season. Woodmore hit the 1,000 point mark with 16 seconds remaining in the first half when he nailed a pair of free throws to give the Marlins (6-0, 2-0 ODAC) a 44-39 halftime lead after a hard-played first half.

Lynchburg (5-2) led 28-20 with 8:20 remaining in the half after Gary Boone II (Stafford/North Stafford) hit a jumper for the Hornets.  But, the Marlins closed the gap in a hurry when Teasley nailed a triple and Woodmore followed with a layup. Scoring by Austen Arnold (Gate City/Gate City), Xavier Parham (Richmond/Highland Springs) and Boone combined to help Lynchburg hold onto a slim lead...briefly.  Woodmore hit for eight straight points to cut the spread to two points before junior Trent Batson (Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen) knocked down a triple to push Virginia Wesleyan into a 38-37 lead with 1:50 remaining in the half.  The Marlins held onto the lead for the remainder of the game.

After Virginia Wesleyan opened up an eight point lead in the first 10 minutes of the second half, Lynchburg came back strong to tie the game at 58 and again at 60.  But, Virginia Wesleyan kept its poise and answered with key baskets from Woodmore and Astorga to break the ties. Astorga's layup that broke the 60-all tie also sparked VWC on a closing 12-5 run as Lynchburg connected on just one field goal attempt in the final six minutes of competition.

Woodmore hit a trio of triples and 7-of-10 free throws en route to his game-high 22 points.  Teasley, who also hit three tirples, finished with 13 points, and Astorga and Ford both added 10 points each.  VWC hit 8-of-27 three-point attempts and 22-of-31 free throws.  Ford helped the Marlins with six assists and three steals. Alex Graves (Waynesboro/Waynesboro) led Lynchburg with 14 points, followed by Arnold with 10. 

Virginia Wesleyan competes again on Saturday, December 8, hosting Guilford College in an ODAC contest beginning at 2 p.m.

--AMDG--