The three-pointer wasn’t unusual for the host Marlins, but the shooter was totally surprising as it was the first triple attempted this season by Adair, who has made his mark as one of the nation’s top players in and around the lane.
In fact, it was only the seventh triple attempt in an illustrious career for Adair, who hit his second in four years with 11:39 on the clock in the first half, giving Virginia Wesleyan a 21-9 advantage. It was a lead that was never seriously challenged at the Jane P. Batten Student Center where the No. 8-ranked Marlins combined a balanced offense with a solid defense to pin an impressive 75-55 Old Dominion Athletic Conference loss on Guilford.
The loss knocked Guilford from the ranks of the nation’s undefeated Division III teams, a group that has dwindled to a trio in Whitworth College, Amherst College and Bates College. While Guilford dropped to 10-1 overall and to 4-1 in the ODAC, Virginia Wesleyan improved to 11-2 and to 6-0.
Adair’s triple was just part of a strong effort by the senior All-American, who spent most of game up against Guilford’s intimidating 6-foot-11 Ben Strong. Adair played it patiently inside however, and repeatedly backed in and spun around Strong en route to a game-high 20 points.
“His effort set the tone for us right away,” said VWC Head Coach Dave Macedo. “He didn’t have a great Texas trip and we challenged him when we got back. To his credit, he’s responded very well in our last three games.”
All three games were decisive wins for the Marlins, as Adair scored a combined 62 points, hitting 28-of-40 field goal attempts and pulling down 26 rebounds. He also stepped up his effort for the Marlins’ defense, which has now put the clamps on the ODAC’s top two offensive teams. VWC held Emory & Henry College’s Wasps to 27 points below their average in a 128-84 win on Saturday and held Guilford to 29 points below its average on Sunday.
“Today our defensive effort started with Brian down low,” said Macedo. “It spread from there and we had a great team defensive effort for the third game in a row. We utilize our athleticism defensively and when we can rebound and execute our game plan it gets our offense going.”
Virginia Wesleyan’s offense was never really idle against the Quakers however, as sophomore Terrell Dixon hit a jumper in the first 30 seconds to give the Marlins the lead for good. Timely triples by junior Tyler Fantin and Dixon in the next four minutes catapulted Virginia Wesleyan into a 10-0 lead and forced an early timeout by Guilford head coach Tom Palombo, a former Marlin basketball standout.
Thomas Burge nailed a triple after the timeout to pull the Quakers back within seven points, but that was the closest the score would get for Guilford for the rest of the game. Virginia Wesleyan’s defense forced the Quakers into taking some tough, off-the-mark shots, while the Marlin offense emerged with a patient, alert attack that built on the lead consistently.
Guilford stayed within a single-digit deficit through the first eight minutes, before Adair’s triple pushed the Marlins into a double-digit lead the rest of the way. The triple sparked a 17-4 Marlin spurt that opened up a 35-13 lead with seven minutes on the clock in the first half. Junior D’Juan Tucker hit a triple to cap the run that utilized scoring from five Marlins, including seven points from rookie Stephen Fields.
“Stephen provided with us with a spark offensively in both halves,” said Macedo. “He was just part of another great balanced effort though. Tyler played an all-around good game, D’Juan and Thomas came through when we needed them, and it goes on and on. It was a balanced effort for us at both ends of the court and ended a good, team weekend for us.”
Virginia Wesleyan led 46-25 at halftime and opened that to a 59-29 advantage with a 13-4 run, capped by a Fields triple, in the first seven minutes of the second half. While the Marlins were scoring, the Quakers continued to struggle, missing the mark on eight consecutive field goal attempts before George Neville connected on a jumper.
Adair gave VWC its largest lead of the game at 63-32 with 9:55 to play and the Marlins coasted in from there.
In addition to Adair’s 20 points, Fields tallied 14 for the Marlins, hitting 6-of-10 field goals, and Dixon finished with 11 points, hitting 5-of-8 from the field. Virginia Wesleyan connected on eight three-pointers, led by Fantin, Tucker and Fields with two each. Fantin also led the Marlins with eight rebounds and two blocks.
Strong led Guilford with 18 points and two blocks. Jordan Snipes was the only other Quaker in double-figure scoring, hitting for 11 points. While Guilford connected on only 35% of its shots, Virginia Wesleyan hit on 50%.