Fields\' score mirrored several of the hectic finishes for Virginia Wesleyan (1-0) en route to its national championship last year, as the Marlins battled from behind to overtake the Captains (0-2) down the stretch. CNU led 69-63 with 3:43 to play after a pair of free throws by rookie Theo Baker before the Marlins started to make their run.
Junior TonTon Balenga, the hero of so many of those comebacks last year, ignited this one as well, scoring five consecutive points to cut the CNU lead to 71-68 with 1:56 on the clock. After Davon Barton missed a jumper for the Marlins, senior Thomas Sumpter came of a crowd with the rebound and got the ball ahead to junior Tyler Fantin, who was fouled. Fantin hit both freebies to pull the Marlins within a 71-70 count with 1:20 on the clock.
The teams traded time outs to set up strategies for the final seconds and both teams missed on scoring opportunities as those seconds ticked away. Mark Blasingame had the chance to extend CNU\'s lead with a bonus foul situation with 33 seconds remaining, but could not get the ball to drop. Fields snared the rebound for VWC, which took a time out to set up its final play with 26 seconds showing.
The Marlins worked the ball around quickly and found Fields for the pass inside and the game-winning score. CNU had one last opportunity to regain the lead, but a Barton jumper missed the mark and Sumpter rebounded for VWC to run out the clock.
Virginia Wesleyan, which led by 12 points midway through the first half, was led by Balenga with 23 points, including a 4-of-9 effort from three-point range. Brandon Adair added 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, Fantin added 12 points and 10 rebounds and and Fields finished his debut collegiate game with 10 points.
Christopher Newport, which took the lead for the first time in the second half with 11:38 remaining, was led by Blasingame and Barton with 15 points each. Korey Lewis tallied 13 and Donta Selden and Edward Riley added 10 points each.