No. 8 Virginia Wesleyan Men’s Basketball Downs Emory & Henry Saturday Afternoon

No. 8 Virginia Wesleyan Men’s Basketball Downs Emory & Henry Saturday Afternoon

EMORY, Va. – The No. 8 Virginia Wesleyan College Men's Basketball Team (18-3, 10-2 ODAC) picked up an 88-54 win over Emory & Henry College (3-17, 2-9 ODAC)  Saturday afternoon in Old Dominion Athletic Conference action at Bob Johnson Court. VWC's national ranking comes from D3hoops.com, the official poll of NCAA Division III Men's Basketball.

The Marlins got out to a 13-3 lead at the 14:52 mark of the first half and though the Wasps scored five-straight points to close the gap to 13-8, VWC extended their advantage to 16 with 5:29 to go before the break thanks to a 13-2 run. A jumper by Emory & Henry junior guard Kevin Anzenberger (Concord, N.C.) trimmed the deficit to 15 with under three minutes on the clock, but Virginia Wesleyan finished the half on a 7-0 run for the 41-19 lead at the intermission.

The first eight and a half minutes of the second half saw the two teams trade baskets resulting in a 56-33 score. The Marlins then went on a 15-4 run, hitting a trio of three-pointers during the 3:06 span. E&H put up a quick 9-2 scoring spurt but the deficit was too much to overcome as VWC rebuilt their 34-point advantage for the final 88-54 score.

Four players scored in double figures for Virginia Wesleyan led by Cameron Owens, who put up a game-high 17 points, adding five rebounds and three blocks. Khory Moore had 16 points, three rebounds, four steals and two assists while Nick Doyle tallied 12 points off the bench. Tim Jones also contributed 10 points, four steals and three assists to the Marlins' cause.

As a team VWC shot 48.5 percent (32-for-66) from the field and hit 11 three-pointers over the course of the game. The Marlins held a 41-33 rebounding advantage and a 38-16 margin on points in the paint.

Emory & Henry was paced by freshman forward Noah Walker (Bristol, Va.) with 12 points on four-for-five shooting with three rebounds. Anzenberger finished the game with 12 points as well while sophomore guard Myles Turner (Richmond, Va.) added seven points, eight rebounds and six assists. 

The Wasps made just 18 of their 51 shot attempts (35.3%) but closed the game strong at the free throw line, connecting on 10-of-12 (83.3%) in the second half. Turnovers proved to be costly for E&H, as 21 miscues resulted in 22 points for VWC.

Emory & Henry will embark on road trip next week with three games over the course of six days. Their next contest will be on Monday at 7:00 p.m.; the rescheduled game of January 31 at Hampden-Sydney College.

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-photo courtesy of Caleb Johnston, E&H '15