Marlins Clipped 76-69 by Hampden-Sydney

HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. – The Virginia Wesleyan College men's basketball team attempted to overcome a 10-point halftime deficit, but fell just short, 76-69, against Hampden-Sydney College in Wednesday Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action.

The Marlins trailed 39-29 at halftime as the Tigers held VWC to 36.7% from the field and 23.5% from long range. Khory Moore battled foul trouble in the first half, picking up a pair of fouls in just nine minutes of action.

The largest lead for Virginia Wesleyan came with 9:52 left in the first half as Percy Burt slammed a dunk for a 22-16 margin. Hampden-Sydney rallied for eight-straight points, five coming from Jake Duncan, to take a 24-22 lead. Andre Banks broke the Tiger run with a 3-pointer the next time down the court, but that would be the last time the Marlins would lead.

The Marlins cut the lead to four points on three different occasions in the second half, but the Tigers pulled away again each time. Hampden-Sydney led 70-62 with 2:19 left in the game when Moore connected for a trifecta to cut the lead to five.

Keijon Honore defending the inbound pass and stole the ball in the front court. He found Moore who missed a layup, but Kaelin Poe finished it off to cut the deficit to just three points with 1:15 to play.

Logan Samuels extended the Hampden-Sydney lead to 72-67 with a layup the next trip up the floor as just under a minute remained.

The Marlins missed two much-needed 3-pointers late while the Tigers went 4-4 at the free-throw line down the stretch to seal the victory.

Jake Duncan led Hampden-Sydney (10-12/6-7) with a game-high 24 points and seven rebounds. Samuels added 17 points, four rebounds, and four assists.

Hampden-Sydney held a 37-31 edge in rebounds and a 42-28 points in the paint advantage.

Moore and Poe tied for the Marlin lead with 16 points while Poe added seven rebounds.

Virginia Wesleyan (15-7/8-5) travels to Lynchburg College (13-9/7-6) Saturday for a 3 p.m. ODAC start.

Notes

The Marlins are 34-47 all-time against Hampden-Sydney… The loss snaps a string of nine-straight wins in the series by VWC… Hampden-Sydney last defeated the Marlins 80-71 in the 2010-11 season… The Marlins are 2-2 this season when Khory Moore does not lead the team outright in scoring… VWC is 5-4 when Poe leads the squad in rebounding.