A VWC overflow record crowd of 1,315 was on hand in the Jane P. Batten Student Center where Adair hit 11-of-13 field goal attempts and hauled in a season-high nine offense rebounds in his overall total. His effort moves him into the No. 9 spot among VWC's all-time leading rebounders with 229 in his career.
For Virginia Wesleyan, making its fifth appearance in the NCAA event, it was only the second tourney win in eight attempts, and its first ever against the New Jersey team. VWC and NJCU meet twice previously in the NCAA tournament, when New Jersey was known as Jersey City State College.
It was an emotional victory for the Marlins and head coach Dave Macedo, who dedicated the game to his late grandmother, who passed away on Monday. Her wake was held Thursday night.
"This game was for her," said Macedo. "She and I were very close and her wake was tonight. But, I know she would have wanted me to coach this game. This was definitely for her."
Virginia Wesleyan, now 24-5, the best record in school history, took a little time to get started, but eventually worked out a 31-28 lead by halftime. The Gothic Knights (18-10) tied the game three times in the first five minutes of the second half, but could never grab the lead.
Rookie D'Juan Tucker (Dumfries, VA/Forest Park) helped make sure of that with a timely three-pointer that expanded VWC's lead to 43-38 with 12:53 remaining to be played. It was also the start of a final takeover by the Marlins, who outscored the Knights 25-11 over an eight-minute span to open up a 65-49 lead with 5:18 on the clock.
New Jersey never got closer than 14 points the rest of the way.
Mark Washington led New Jersye with 21 points, the only Knight in double figure scoring. Rookie Ton Ton Balenga (Newport News, VA/Warwick) scored 13 for VWC, which also received 10 points each from senior Peter Warren (Winchester, VA/Handley) and junior Marques Fitch (Virginia Beach, VA/Kellam).