Box Score

NORFOLK, VA (January 20, 2005)—Hampden-Sydney College junior guard Matt Guill (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus) and freshman forward Troy Kaase (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) each scored a career-high 16 points to lead Hampden-Sydney to a 76-67 victory over Virginia Wesleyan in Old Dominion Athletic Conference action Thursday in VWC’s Batten Center.  The win, Hampden-Sydney’s third in-a-row, puts the Tigers at 9-7 overall and 4-5 in the conference as the Marlins fall to 12-4 overall and 6-4 in ODAC play. 

In a game played 23 hours later than originally scheduled due to weather-related travel delays affecting the Tigers, Hampden-Sydney out-scored Virginia Wesleyan by 12 in the second-half en route to handing the Marlins their first home loss of the season.  Kaase and Guill led four Tigers in double-figures at 16 points, while Drew Prehmus (Atlanta, GA/Wesleyan) scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half and sophomore center Davis Bowne (Hickory, NC/St. Stephen’s) tied his career-high with 12 points.  Kaase meanwhile collected his first career double-double with a career-best and game-high 11 rebounds. 

The Tigers trailed by as much as seven points in the first half, 24-17, after a Marques Fitch three-pointer with 7:43 to play.  The Tigers trimmed the Marlin lead to three, 35-32, by the break, thanks to a pair of three’s by sophomore Kevin Forrester (Wytheville, VA/George Wythe) and consecutive buckets by Bowne and Kaase. 

The Tigers ramped up their intensity in the second half, creating six Marlin turnovers in the first seven minutes to pull out to a six-point advantage, 46-40.  Free throws by Ari Paschal cut the Tiger lead to four, 46-42, at the 12:44 mark, but the Tigers followed that up with an 11-2 run, charged by six points from Prehmus, en route to building a 13-point lead, 57-44. 

The Marlins battled back to cut the lead to six, 68-62, on a Brandon Adair layup at the 1:57 mark, but free throws by Guill, Prehmus and freshman A.J. Dowell (Roanoke, VA/Salem) sealed the victory for the Tigers. 

Hampden-Sydney shot better-than 50 percent for the second straight game as the Tigers found high-percentage looks at the basket en route to converting 30-of-54 (56%) from the floor.  The team scored on 3-of-7 (43%) and canned 13-of-18 (72%) from the free throw line, while out-rebounding the Marlins, 33-32.  Meanwhile, the Tiger bench out-scored Virginia Wesleyan’s, 48-18. 

Rodney Young scored a career-high 15 points, all in the first half, to lead four players in double-figures in scoring for the Marlins.  Marques Fitch added 12 points, while freshman guard Ton Ton Balenga and sophomore forward Brandon Adair each scored 11.  The Marlins shot 40 percent (23-for-58) from the floor, but made just 6-of-18 (33%) from three-point range including just 1-of-10 in the second half. 

Hampden-Sydney returns to action Saturday, January 22, as the team hosts Emory and Henry College at 2 pm in S. Douglas Fleet Gymnasium.  The game can be heard live on FM 95.7 WFLO and on the internet at www.hsc.edu/athletics.