It was a milestone victory for Virginia Wesleyan as it marked the 450th victory in program history. It was also a win for the Marlins in the “golden anniversary” game with Randolph-Macon, the 50th game in a series that began in 1975.
Virginia Wesleyan closed the game the same way it opened it, executing on both ends of the court to build 15-point advantages. In between, Randolph-Macon followed the lead of Justin Wansley, Philip Hawley and Justin Moyer to keep the Marlins from running away. The Yellow Jackets (8-7, 6-3) cut a 15-point first-half deficit to 41-36 by halftime and outscored Virginia Wesleyan 15-9 in the first six minutes of the second half for a 51-50 lead.
But, a jumper by senior Peter Warren gave the lead back to the Marlins, who built on it the rest of the way. Key play inside by Marlin sophomore Rodney Young helped spark a 13-0 run that catapulted Virginia Wesleyan into a 63-51 advantage with 8:38 on the clock. A brief scoring spurt from Wansley, Hawley and Stephen Sutherland pulled the Jackets back within six points minutes later, but that’s as close as it would get the rest of the way.
A rebound bucket by Young and a three-pointer from Fitch following a steal put the Marlins back into a double-digit lead and it stayed that way to the final buzzer.
In addition to the career-high effort from Fitch, the Marlins received 15 points from Warren, 14 from sophomore Brandon Adair and 11 from Young, who also pulled down a season-high seven rebounds. VWC’s effort was aided by a 9-of-18 showing from three-point range. R-MC was 6-of-13 from behind the arc.
Wansley, the ODAC’s leading scorer and rebounder, led the Jackets with 19 points and seven boards. Moyer added 17 points, Hawley 14 and Sutherland 11.
Virginia Wesleyan returns to action on Wednesday, January 19, hosting the Tigers of Hampden-Sydney College at 7:00 p.m. Randolph-Macon plays again on Saturday, January 22, at Roanoke College at 2:00 p.m.