VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Wesleyan scored 16 of the final 21 points of the game on its way to a 72-58 victory over the Washington and Lee men's basketball team on Friday at the Batten Center.

With the Marlins (9-4, 2-2 ODAC) leading midway through the second half, the Generals (5-8, 1-3 ODAC) trimmed the deficit to 56-53 on a pair of free throws by senior guard Andy Kleinlein (Chesterfield, Mo./Chaminade College Prep) with 8:16 left in the second half.

A dunk by senior guard Khory Moore pushed the VWC advantage to 58-53, and then a free throw by junior forward Clayton Murtha (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park) brought W&L back to within four (58-54) with 5:53 left on the clock.

The Marlins then scored 10 of the next 12 points in just two minutes to extend the margin to 12, 68-56, with 3:51 remaining in the game. Sophomore guard Devin Kearns (Cibolo, Texas/Samuel Clemens) drained a jumper with 3:28 on the clock to close the gap to 10 (68-58), but it would be the final points of the game for the team, as the Blue and White went scoreless over the last three minutes.

W&L turned the ball over 19 times in the contest, including four times in the final four minutes, while VWC had just seven offensive miscues. Virginia Wesleyan converted the 19 turnovers into 32 points, while the Blue and White scored just six points off turnovers.

The Generals dominated the glass, 41-27, but the Marlins hit 11 three-pointers (11-of-34, 32.4 percent) compared to just six triples (6-of-14, 42.9 percent) for W&L.  

Murtha registered his fourth consecutive 20-point game. He ended the night with 20 points and 11 rebounds on 8-of-14 shooting. Kleinlein recorded 11 points, five rebounds and four assists, and sophomore forward Roy McMillan (Raleigh, N.C./Broughton) and first-year forward Connor MacIsaac (Winthrop, Mass./The Rivers School) each had eight points off the bench.

Moore led the Marlins with 17 points, while senior guard Tim Jones notched 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals.

W&L returns to action on Wednesday, when it hosts Emory & Henry for a 7:00 pm contest.

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