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VIRGINIA BEACH — With most of a standing room crowd only on its feet in the Jane P. Batten Student Center, Virginia Wesleyan sophomore TonTon Balenga capped one of the most dramatic comebacks in Marlin basketball history.

Trailing 71-69 with 21 seconds remaining, Virginia Wesleyan worked the ball around Lincoln's Lions quickly as time ticked away. The Marlins got the ball inside to junior standout Brandon Adair, who alertly fired it back outside to Balenga, standing all alone in the corner. Balenga ripped a nothing-but-net three-pointer with 3.3 seconds showing, to evoke a deafening roar from the partisan crowd as Virginia Wesleyan took a 72-71 lead.

Lincoln had one more chance for a shot to take the lead, but saw an attempt knocked into the air by the VWC defense, securing the win for the Marlins and an unprecedented berth in the round of eight on Saturday. Virginia Wesleyan (27-3) will take on the Pioneers (23-7) of William Paterson at 7 p.m. at VWC for the berth in the national championship series next weekend in Salem, Va.

Balenga's three-pointer put the final touches on a 9-0 run in the final 2:05 for the Marlins, who trailed 71-63 after Lincoln standout Kyle Myrick scored five consecutive points to give the Lions (25-5) their largest lead of the night.

But, Virginia Wesleyan took control behind the efforts of senior Marques Fitch and sophomores Tyler Fantin, D'Juan Tucker and Balenga to turn momentum around. Two Fantin free throws started the surge for the Marlins, who kept it going with key rebounding. VWC missed two consecutive shots, but pulled in the rebounds on each of them, before Fantin moved into the paint to score on a layup that also drew a foul.

Fantin's three-point play cut the Lincoln lead to 71-68 with 1:16 to play, but the Lions moved back down court and got the ball to Myrick, who saw his shot go wide. Adair snared the rebound and Tucker was fouled moving down court. He hit one of two free throws to cut it to 71-69 with 0:57 on the clock.

Lincoln worked the ball around and Myrick fired a shot with 29 seconds to play, but missed the mark again and also missed the rebound when Balenga moved inside to take the loose ball. The Marlins called a timeout with 21 seconds to set up the play that capped the electrifying run.

Virgina Wesleyan led by as many as nine points in the second half and held the advantage most of the half, before Tyreek Byard and Myrick sparked the Lions on a rally that gave Lincoln a 57-56 lead with 7:13 to play. There were three lead changes and two ties in the next several minutes, leading to a 10-2 Lincoln run for the 71-63 advantage with 2:05 on the clock.

The final run belong to the Marlins, however.

Myrick, the nation's leading scorer, finished with 34 points, hitting 12-of-28 field goal attempts and seven of 10 free throws. Bryant Leach added 20 points for the Lions and Byard finished with 10

Adair tallied 24 points for VWC, hitting 11-of-16 field goals. Balenga and Fantin added 15 points each. Lincoln hit on 4-of-12 three-point shots, while VWC hit 7-of-22, led by Balenga with four.