Moore Scores 25 to Lead Marlins to Tip-Off Tournament Title

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- Junior Khory Moore scored 25 points on Saturday afternoon as the No. 2 ranked Virginia Wesleyan College men's basketball team captured the Marlin Tip-Off Tournament title with an 88-66 victory over Averett University.

Moore started out quickly, similar to his performance on Friday night, converting two early layups for a 4-2 edge. Nick Doyle and Kendric Washington followed it up with layups of their own for an 8-2 Marlin edge just over five minutes into the game.

Moore continued to disrupt Averett as the half continued, knocking down a three with 8:17 left in the first to put VWC up 21-9.

Trevor West and James Contreras, Jr. scored on back-to-back possessions to cut the Marlin lead to four, 21-13, but following a Kaelin Poe basket, Moore answered with a layup and another trifecta on consecutive possessions to push Virginia Wesleyan ahead 28-13.

The junior guard converted on another three-pointer at the 5:28 mark to put Virginia Wesleyan up 31-16 while netting his 17th point of the half, one more than the entire Averett squad. He would finish with 20 points in the opening frame.

Virginia Wesleyan pulled away from a 43-29 halftime lead early in the second as Nick Doyle connected on back-to-back three-pointers off Moore assists. Poe knocked down a pair of free throws on the following possession to put the Marlins up 22, 51-29, their largest lead until late in the contest.

Charles Bryant carried the Cougars in the second half as Averett attempted a comeback but the visitors would get no closer than 16 points the rest of the way despite Bryant's 19 points and 12 rebounds in the second half.

Bryant led Averett (2-1) with 26 points and 13 rebounds while Bradley Robinson added 19 points.

Moore's 25 points paced the Marlins as Doyle finished with 17 points and six assists and Poe added 14 points to go along with a team-best six rebounds. Corey White, Jr. contributed three blocks asDaevon Brown scored nine points and added five caroms in just nine minutes off the bench.

No. 2 Virginia Wesleyan (2-1) travels to Salisbury University Tuesday night for a 6 p.m. non-conference tip.