A strong, balanced shooting effort and a stingy defense that allowed just 11 second half points lifted the University of Mary Washington men's basketball team to a 79-37 victory over Southern Virginia University on Tuesday evening at Ron Rosner Arena. The Eagles improve to 3-4 on the season.

The Knights gained the early advantage, primarily from the free throw line, but a pair of three pointers from senior Zack Blue knotted the score at 11-11, and another three from freshman Kai Robinson put the Eagles into the lead thereafter. Freshman Ulysses Young added another three to up the run to 12-3, and the Eagles led, 17-11 with 10:58 left in the first.

The lead swelled to six with a Jose Fudd three pointer, and to double figures at 11 on a Jadon Burgess layup with 4:28 remaining. The Eagles led by as many as 14 before intermission, settling on a 38-26 halftime lead.

In the second half, the Eagles remained red hot from the floor, while the Knights struggled, as the Eagles ran off a 31-2 run to open the frame, and carried the big lead to the final whistle.

Blue led the Eagles with 14 points on 5-11 shooting with three three pointers, and Sophomore Jay Randall added 12 points on 5-9 shooting from the floor. Robinson shot 4-6 from the floor with a pair of triples en route to 11 points, and Young added 10 points as the fourth Eagle in double figures.

The Eagles shot 46.8% from the field (29-62), making 11-29 three pointers and 10-16 free throws. Southern Virginia made 11-43 shots (25.6%), making 1-19 three point attempts and 14-15 free throws. The Knights held a 37-31 edge in rebounding, but committed 27 turnovers to just eight for the Eagles.

The Eagles will be back in action on Saturday when they visit Marymount University at 3:00 p.m.