Brandon Adair and Tyler Fantin each scored 16 points, while Ton Ton Balenga added 11 as the Marlins avenged a 74-62 loss to the Tigers back on November 30. Troy Kaase (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) added 13, while Drew Prehmus (Atlanta, GA/Wesleyan) chipped in 11 to pace the Tigers.
The game featured a back-and-forth battle with eight ties throughout the first 17-plus minutes, while the Tigers held as much as a three-point lead, 11-8, on a Jyri Laakso (Oulu, Finland/Makelanrinne) layup with 12:58 to play. A Matt Towell layup broke a 22-all tie and sent the Marlins on a 12-4 run over the final 2:52 of the half and held a 34-26 lead in the locker room.
The Marlins opened the second half on a 7-1 run that culminated in a 12-point lead, 41-29, with a Tyler Fantin three pointer at the 15:28 mark. The Tigers cut the lead to ten, 47-37, on Matt Guill’s (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus) running one-hander just over four minutes later, but the Marlins stretched the lead again, this time to 14 points (53-39) on Marques Fitch’s layup with 9:01 to play.
The Tigers continued to rally, cutting the lead to eight points on two separate occasions, the last on Mike Edward’s (Richmond, VA/Benedictine) with 4:40 to play that made the score 58-50. Ton Ton Balenga then added a pair of free throws and a layup, while Thomas Sumpter sank two freebies down the stretch to put a cap on the game for the Marlins.
The Tigers shot 41.7 percent (20-for-48) from the floor, while their woes continued from beyond the arc as the team connected on just 2-of-10 (20%) en route to recording their fifth straight sub 30-percent effort from trifecta-land. Meanwhile, the Tigers also made just 11-of-19 (57.9%) from the line.
Virginia Wesleyan meanwhile, shot 44.2 percent (23-for-52) from the floor and just 29.4 percent (5-for-17) from three point range, while sinking 17-of-24 (70.8%) from the free throw line. The Marlins out-rebounded the Tigers, 34-30.
Hampden-Sydney returns to action Saturday as the Tigers open a three-game road stretch in Emory, VA, against Emory and Henry College at 2 pm. The game will be broadcast live on FM 95.7 WFLO and on the internet at www.hsc.edu/athletics.