VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Junior guard Khory Moore scored a game-high 29 points to lead Virginia Wesleyan to an 81-78 overtime win over Washington and Lee in ODAC men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at the Batten Center.

The Generals (10-13, 3-11) fell for the seventh straight contest despite standing toe-to-toe with the ODAC-leading Marlins (17-6, 12-2) for more than 40 minutes.

W&L assumed a 70-67 lead with 2:08 left in regulation following a layup by sophomore forward Clayton Murtha (Dallas, Texas / Highland Park).  However, junior guard Justin Watson knotted the game at 70-70 when he drilled a three-pointer with 1:15 remaining.  Junior guard Andy Kleinlein (Chesterfield, Mo. / Chaminade College Prep) missed a jumper with 56 seconds left and the Generals kept Moore of the board as he fired up a pair of jumpers in the final 31 seconds of regulation.

The Blue & White grabbed the early lead in the extra session as first-year guard Devin Kearns (Cibolo, Texas / Samuel Clemens) sank a pair of free throws at the 4:17 mark for a 72-70 lead.  W&L held the advantage until Watson nailed a triple at the 2:36 mark for a 75-73 lead.  Kleinlein tied it back up the next time down, but junior forward Kaelin Poe made good on a three-point play and the Generals could never pull back even. 

W&L did have the ball on offense down just two points (80-78) with just under 30 seconds remaining, but the Generals turned the ball over under the hoop and VWC knocked down 1-of-2 free throws with two seconds remaining to make it a three-point game.  The Generals full-court pass in the final seconds was picked off and the Marlins escaped with the win.

Sophomore forward Nicholas George (Charleston, W. Va. / Charleston Catholic) hit a three-pointer to start the game's scoring and the Generals controlled much of the first-half play, posting several double-digit leads in the opening 15 minutes.  W&L led 30-22 with 4:56 remaining when Moore took the game over for VWC, scoring 15 points in the final 4:02 as the Marlins used a 17-3 run to assume a six-point lead (39-33) at the intermission.

The Marlins' lead swelled to 14 points (50-36) following a Watson three-pointer at the 15:47 mark of the second half, but the Generals went on a 20-5 run behind nine points from Kleinlein over the next 6:47 to take a 56-55 lead.  Neither team led by more than four points for the remainder of the contest.

W&L shot 44.4 percent (24-54) from the field and drilled 11-of-19 (.579) three-pointers.  Kleinlein led the way with 19 points.  Murtha finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Kearns and senior forward Andrew Franz (Charlotte, N.C. / Ravenscroft) tallied 11 points each.

Moore's effort was supplemented by 16 points from Watson and 14 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and five blocks from Poe.

Washington and Lee returns to action on Wednesday, when it hosts Eastern Mennonite for a 7:00 pm contest.

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