ASHLAND, Va. -- It did not take too long for Virginia Wesleyan College's men's basketball team to emerge with the kind of effort most people have expected.
The Marlins used a 7-0 run late in the first half to establish control of Friday's game against Texas' Trinity University and opened the second half with an 11-1 surge to leave VWC in charge the rest of the way in an impressive 84-54 victory in the Yellow Jacket Classic hosted by Randolph-Macon College.
Trinity (3-2), a veteran team tagged to repeat as the champion of the Western Division of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, kept pace with the Marlins (1-1) through most of the first half, which included five ties and a Tiger lead at 25-24.
But, sophomoreD.J. Woodmore (Virginia Beach/Landstown), last year's national rookie of the year, hit a triple off a pass from junior Tre' Ford (Falls Church, Va./J.E.B. Stuart) with 6:12 remaining in the first half and Virginia Wesleyan led the rest of the way.
Scores by Trinity's Zach Lambert (Frisco, Texas/Centennial), Ryan Beall (Santa Barbara, Calif./Dos Pueblos), and 6-foot-7 Robert Kitzinger (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) pulled the Tigers within a 32-30 score with 3:40 remaining in the half, before VWC came back with its 7-0 run to create some space. Senior Jason Burns (Clinton, Md./Frederick Douglass) started it for the Marlins with a jumper and junior Chris Teasely (Newport News, Va./Menchville) added five points to help push the Marlins into a 39-30 advantage.
VWC led 39-32 at the break, and 39-24 to start the second half when Kitzinger opened scoring for Trinity. That was as close as it would get as Virginia Wesleyan four different Marlins scored in the next four minutes that opened up a 50-35 lead.
It was all part of a solid second-half shooting by the Marlins, who connected on 11 of their first 12 shots of the half and hit 61.5% for the half overall. Virginia Wesleyan hit 54.5% from the field for the game, while Trinity managed only 37.9%, including 31% in the second half. VWC opened up its largest lead a 83-52 on a pair of free throws by rookie Cameron Owens (Centreville, Va./Centreville).
Four Marlins hit double-figure scoring, led by Woodmore with 20 points. He hit 7-of-13 field goal attempts, including three triples. Burns put up six shots and connected on all of them en route to 13 points, junior Chris Astorga (Suffolk, Va./Virginia Beach Cape Henry Collegiate) added 12 points, and Teasley finished with 11.
Kitzinger hit 8-of14 field goal attempts and led Trinity with 17 points. Beall added 10 points.
Trinity won the battle on the boards 37-31, led by Lambert with six rebounds. Astorga led VWC on the boards with seven rebounds. Ford contributed to the Marlin showing with a game-high four assists and two steals and senior Donald Vaughn (Woodbridge, Va./Dumfries Potomac) finished with a game-leading three blocks.
Virginia Wesleyan returns to the R-MC court on Saturday, Nov. 26, to face Texas' Southwestern University at 2 p.m. in another game in the Yellow Jacket Classic.
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