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Wesleyan hoops earns
runner-up finish at VWC Tip-Off Classic
 Virginia
Beach, VA - The
Battling Bishop men’s basketball team opened up regular
season play over the weekend, splitting a pair of games and
earning a runner-up finish at the Virginia Wesleyan Cox
Communications Tip-Off Classic in Virginia Beach. Wesleyan
turned in a thrilling 73-70 victory over Rutgers-Newark on
Friday night as sophomore guard Jarmel Arrington (pictured)
nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer. The host Marlins,
however, proved to be too much on Saturday in an 83-60
defeat.
In Friday’s season-opener,
the Scarlet Raiders and Bishops battled through nine lead
changes and seven ties. The Bishops, who led 37-36 at the
break, trailed by as many at six in the second half. The
Raiders, however, were their own worst enemy, connecting on
just 14-of-29 attempts at the charity stripe on the night.
It looked as though junior
Chad Barnes had bailed them out when he drained a
three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining that put
Rutgers-Newark up 70-68. But Barnes fouled out just six
seconds later, setting up sophomore guard
Trey
Drake for a pair of free throws which evened
the score. Junior forward
Adam
Coleman then got a steal and called
time out with just five ticks remaining, setting up
Arrington’s buzzer-beating heroics.
Arrington finished with a
game-high 23 points, as did senior teammate Lenny Hall.
Sophomore Trey Drake added 12 points and six assists, while
freshman Careem Corbett pulled down 12 rebounds in his
collegiate debut.
As a team, the Bishops
drained 10-of-19 three point attempts and 13-of-16 free
throw shots, which proved to be the difference in the game.
Sophomore
Deshawn Singleton led a balanced
Rutgers-Newark effort with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Barnes also chipped in 14 points, while David Cherry added
13 points and nine boards.
On Saturday, the Marlins
opened the game with a 10-2 run and and led by as many as 27
with 4:17 remaining in the first half. VWC extended its lead
to 31 early in the second half, and the Bishops got no
closer than 17 the rest of the way.
TonTon Balenga paced the
Marlins with a game-high 25 points. Norman Hassell and
Terrell Dixon chipped in 15 and 13 points, respectively, and
Tyler Fantin hauled in 14 boards.
Junior Buddy Williams
turned in a team-high 12 points for the Bishops, while Hall
added 11. Corbett had another solid performance,
netting 10 points and pulling down eight rebounds.
Corbett and Arrington were
rewarded for their efforts by being named to the
All-Tournament team.
NC Wesleyan will now set
its sights on Tuesday night's match-up with Division I East
Carolina University. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m.
in Greenville.
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