Box Score

St. Mary's City, Md. - The Virginia Wesleyan College men's basketball team needed to hold on for an 85-82 victory over The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey in first round action of the 2010 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship with St. Mary's College of Maryland serving as the host site Friday night.  Five Virginia Wesleyan players reached double figures as the Marlins notched their 14th NCAA tournament victory in their 10th tournament appearance.

No. 11 Virginia Wesleyan will now square off against No. 13 St. Mary's, an 88-59 winner over Purchase College, in tomorrow's second round match-up at 7:00 pm at the Michael P. O'Brien Athletics & Recreation Center Arena.

First-year forward Chris Teasley (Newport News, Va./Menchville) led five Marlin players in double-digit scoring with 21 points off the bench on 8-of-10 shooting, including 5-of-6 from downtown.  A first team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference selection, senior guard Stephen Fields (Hampton, Va./Hampton) added 16 points and a game-high seven assists.

Sophomore forward Donald Vaughn (Woodbridge, Va./Dumfries Potomac) registered a double-double on 14 points and 12 rebounds while first-year forward Chris Astorga (Virginia Beach, Va./Cape Henry Collegiate) also added 14.  Sophomore forward Jamie Richardson (Chantilly, Va./Westfield) finished out the double-digit scoring for the Marlins with 11 points.

Richard Stockton climbed out of a 12-point hole in the second half, going on a 19-8 run in a little over five minutes to close the gap to 80-79 with 1:49 left in the game as senior guard Santini Lancioni (Runnemede, N.J./Paul VI) capped the run with a pair of free throws.  The Marlins closed the game with a 3-for-5 effort at the line for the 85-82 victory.

Junior guard Michael Farrow (Whitesboro, N.J./Middle Twp.) poured in a game-high 31 points in the losing effort while senior forward Omar Smith (Newark, N.J./Central) closed out his career with a double-double on 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.  Lancioni finished his Osprey career with a 17-point effort, making 11-of-12 from the free throw line.

Virginia Wesleyan opened up action by outscoring Richard Stockton, last year's national runner-up, 10-2, as the Marlins connected on a pair of three-point shots.  A quick 30-second timeout by Stockton allowed the Ospreys to regroup and forge a 15-7 run, knotting things up at 17-all with 11:17 remaining in the half.

The Marlins committed 13 first-half fouls to send Richard Stockton to the line for 20 free throw attempts; luckily for VWC, Stockton only connected on 12-of-20 as Virginia Wesleyan stayed one step ahead of the Ospreys at halftime, holding on for a 42-39 halftime lead.