EMORY, Va. – The No. 5 Virginia Wesleyan College Men's Basketball Team (4-1, 2-0 ODAC) took advantage of red hot shooting in the second half en route to defeating Emory & Henry College (2-5, 0-3 ODAC) Saturday afternoon at the King Center in Old Dominion Athletic Conference action.
The Marlins got out to a 7-2 lead in the first 3:22 of the contest, but the Wasps answered with 10-straight points for a 12-7 advantage at the 13:25 mark. E&H would lead by as much as six during the first half.
Virginia Wesleyan clawed its way back into the lead with 5:06 before the half and would never trail again, taking a 28-25 lead into the break.
After the intermission, Emory & Henry hung on early cutting the lead to two (37-35 with 13:36 remaining) but awoke a sleeping giant in the nationally-ranked VWC squad. Over the next 7:33, the Marlins outscored the Wasps 30-10 to open up a 67-45 lead. Virginia Wesleyan would lead by as much as 25 down the stretch, but a late basket by E&H made the final score 73-50.
The Marlins placed four players in double-figures including Chris Astorga, who recorded a game-high 27 points with five three-pointers and added seven rebounds. D.J. Woodmoore tallied 17 points while Chris Teasley and Donald Vaughn added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Emory & Henry was paced by junior guard Kyle Sensabaugh (Columbus, Ohio) with 17 points, six rebounds and three steals. Junior guard Malcolm Green (Marshville, N.C.) and sophomore forward Tyler Mullins (Hazard, Ky.) each had 11 points while Green pulled down seven rebounds and Mullins added six boards.
Virginia Wesleyan was 49.1 percent (28-for-57) from the floor as a team and hit nine-of-20 attempts from beyond the arc. The Marlins shot over 50 percent in the second half and forced the Wasps into 21 turnovers with 15 steals compared to just 12 miscues of their own.
E&H won the battle of the boards, outrebounding VWC 42-36, and held a 15-7 advantage on the offensive glass.
E&H will step out of league play on Monday evening with a matchup against Virginia Intermont College in Bristol, Virginia. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
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-Photo courtesy of Kim Caudill, E&H '13