From the opening whistle to the final buzzer, the Marlins never took their foot off the gas as they dominated the Monarchs of Methodist University Friday in the Jane P. Batten Student Center.
Marlins defeated the Monarchs by a final score of 99-61. The game was tied for a total of 18 seconds. The Marlins, mostly known for the damage they can do from downtown, played a different game. The Marlins shot only 9-30 from behind the arc but outscored the Monarch’s in the paint by 16. The Marlins also had 57 points off of their bench which helped them make easy work of the Monarchs.
The Marlins faced off with Division I Old Dominion University last Friday and took the loss. They were out rebounded in that game dramatically. It seems as though the Marlins worked on their rebounding in preparation for this game. The Marlins out rebounded the Monarchs 45 to 26. With those rebounding numbers, the Marlins also led the game in second chance points with 17. The Marlins also accumulated many points off of turnovers. They were 35 points off of Monarch turnovers, as well as having 23 fast break points as opposed to the Monarchs’ 6 fast break points. It was complete domination by the Marlins in every aspect of the game.
Senior Khory Moore with 17, Senior Tim Jones with 14 and Sophomore Keijon Honore with 14, lead the scoring onslaught by the Marlins. Tim Jones flirted with a triple-double and ended with 14 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds. The Monarchs scoring was led by Junior Jackson Whitley who ended the game with a double-double notching 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
The coaching staff was pleased with the effort that was put forth in the game.
“We came out of the gates with a lot of energy in this game tonight,” Assistant Coach Greg Montgomery said.
The Marlins with that energy were able to play physical defense and force 19 turnovers.
“The seniors like Khory Moore, Tim Jones and Kaelin Poe led us tonight.” Added Montgomery.
In the Old Dominion exhibition game, it was really a tale of two halves for the Marlins. The first half it was kept close but the game got blown up in the second half. Tonight the Marlins were able to keep everything together and complete the whole game.
“Tonight it was really about us putting two halves of basketball together, and we did that tonight,” Montgomery said.
The Marlins head into another contest this coming Friday as they take on the Bobcats of Frostburg State University. That will be their first game in the Marlin Tip-Off Tournament. The teams in that tournament are going to be Virginia Wesleyan College, Frostburg State, Concordia University (TX) and North Carolina Wesleyan. The whole tournament is set to happen in the Jane P. Batten Student Center on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan College.
Corey King
ckking1@vwc.edu
(Photos: Anthony Dellamura|Marlin Chronicle)