VIRGINIA BEACH -- Last year when Virginia Wesleyan College and the University of Mary Washington collided on the basketball court there were two intense battles to the final buzzer.

Both were played in Fredericksburg on the UMW court where the Eagles won the regular-season meeting in double overtime and later ended the Marlins' season with a 74-70 win in NCAA regional tournament action.

A rematch between the NCAA tournament teams took place Wednesday at Virginia Wesleyan where the contest was all-Marlins from start to finish.  VWC, ranked No. 4 in one national poll and No. 8 in another, combined its depth and talent to post an 81-60 non-conference victory at the Jane P. Batten Student Center.

After Emerson Burk (Chesapeake/Great Bridge) gave UMW (0-9) its only lead at 6-4 on a jumper at the 15:01 mark of the first half, the Marlins (8-1) drilled in three consecutive triples to take control for good.  Khory Moore (Arlington/Wakefield School) hit the first to put the Marlins in front and Nick Doyle (Franklin/Southampton) and Breven Lyons (Newport News/Warwick) followed with treys to push the VWC lead to 13-6.

VWC's string of triples sparked a 21-7 run by the Marlins, who led 28-13 after Brandon Mitchell (Albany, Ga./Westover) scored on a layup with 6:24 on the clock.  Cameron Owens (Centreville/Centreville) and Greg Montgomery (Virginia Beach/Princess Anne) added their names to Marlins knocking in triples. Sophomore Tim Jones (Richmond/Henrico) also hit a triple in the half, which ended with VWC hitting eight treys en route to a 44-29 halftime lead.

While long-range shots sparked the crowd in the first half, it was slam down dunks that evoked the cheers in the second half.  Moore ripped through two dunks in the first two minutes of the second half and 6-foot-5 sophomore Kaelin Poe (Hampton/Kecoughtan) scored on back-to-back dunks within a minute late in the game.

Balanced scoring helped the Marlins to expand their lead throughout the second half, with the largest difference in the score recorded at the 4:30 mark.  VWC led 74-46 after a Doyle triple.

Ten Marlins scored, led by Moore with 16 points, Montgomery with 15, and Owens with 13. Jones and Lyons both finished with eight points.

VWC finished with a 10-of-34 showing from three-point range, while Mary Washington attempted 15 triples and hit three.  Virginia Wesleyan also finished with a 43-30 advantage in rebounding, led by Montgomery with nine and Jones with seven.  The Marlins helped force 24 Eagle turnovers.

Eric Shaw (Fredericksburg/Middleburg Academy) scored 13 points to lead the Eagles.  Miguel Kissoon (Williamsburg/Walsingham Academy) followed with 12 points and Taylor Johnson (Ashburn/Broad Run) finished with 10.

VWC will take a 13-day break for the holidays and return to competition on Wednesday, Dec. 31, in a non-conference game at North Carolina Wesleyan College at 2 p.m.

--AMDG--