VIRGINIA BEACH – No. 6 Virginia Wesleyan topped visiting No. 11 Randolph-Macon 53-50 Wednesday night in a matchup of the two top teams in the NCAA Division III South Region Poll.

Randolph-Macon (19-4 / 11-3 ODAC) was paced by Danny Jones who had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Brandon Braxton scored 11 points, while Calvin Croskey added eight in a losing effort. R-MC shot 37.8% on the night, making 17-of-45 shots, but where just 1-of-12 from beyond the three-point arc.

VWC (20-1 / 11-1 ODAC) got a game-high 17 points from Chris Teasley and 14 points and seven rebounds from Donald Vaughn. The Marlins made 16-of-49 attempts from the field to shoot 32.7% from the field.

A defensive battle from the outset, the Yellow Jackets used a stifling half court defense in the first-half to hold VWC to just 5-of-24 shooting from the field, staking themselves to a 24-20 lead at the break.

In the second stanza, a Croskey jumper with 14:28 to play put the Yellow Jackets ahead by six points at 34-28.

The Marlins battled back with an 8-2 run, tying the game at 36 all on a Vaughn bucket with just under 12 minutes to go in the contest.

The game remained close the remainder of the half with neither team able to open up more than a five point advantage.

A pair of Teasley free-throws with 3:18 to play put VWC out in front 49-48. After a defensive stop, the Marlins got a bucket Rakeem Davis to pull ahead by three with 2:29 to play.

The game remained that way until seven seconds remaining when Croskey converted a pair of shots from the charity stripe to pull R-MC to within one at 51-50.

The Yellow Jackets fouled on the inbounds, sending Teasley to the line, who missed the front end of a one-and-one; the Jackets grabbed the rebound and intentionally called a timeout with one left to force a inbounds pass close to the basket.

DJ Woodmore converted both ends of the technical foul shots to extend the lead to three. The Yellow Jackets then took the ball out, just beyond midcourt and were able to get a shot off but it fell short to seal the win for VWC.

Randolph-Macon will be back in action on Saturday when it travels to Roanoke for a 2:00 p.m. ODAC game.

-Yellow Jackets-