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Mar 7, 2008

WPI Men's Basketball Drops Tough Decision In NCAA Tournament

Collegeville, PA --- All-American candidate TonTon Balenga (Newport News, VA) tallied a career-best 31 points to help lift Virginia Wesleyan to a hard-earned 80-75 victory over WPI in a NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament first round contest played at Ursinus College on Friday evening. 

The Marlins (23-6), the 2006 national champions and finalist a year ago, advance to Saturday's second round where they will face the winner of Friday second game between the host Bears and Baptist Bible.  WPI, appearing in its fourth straight NCAA Tournament, sees its season come to an end with a 21-7 record. 

Balenga began a 15-4 Virginia Wesleyan run over a 3:01 stretch of the second half that helped the Marlins get the separation they needed. With the score tied, 52-52, with 12:39 remaining, Virginia Wesleyan opened a 67-56 lead with 7:08 remaining.

After trailing, 69-58 with 4:21 remaining, WPI scored eight straight points to slice Virginia Wesleyan's lead to 69-66 with 1:51 remaining following a pair of Antoine Coleman (Everett, MA) foul shots. With its lead shrinking, Balenga drained a 3-pointer to give the Marlins a 72-66 lead with 1:20 remaining.

WPI placed four players in double figures highlighted by Coleman's 24 points, 18 of which game in the second half.  Jim Marois (Worcester, MA) scored 18 points and shared game-high rebounding honors with seven.

Jerome Kirkland (Boston, MA) and Ben Etten (Hollis, NH) scored 10 points for WPI, which shot 54 percent from the field (31-for-57). The Engineers struggled from the free throw line, hitting on only 10-of-18 (44.4 %) from the charity stripe (44 percent).

The Marlins also got strong efforts from Tyler Fantin (Virginia Beach, VA) and Stephen Fields (Hampton, VA).  Fantin added 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds while Fields tallied all 15 of VWC's points off the bench.

Virginia Wesleyan took a 42-37 advantage into the locker room after an incredibly well-played first half that saw the each team connect on half of their shots from both the field and 3-point land and combine for just seven turnovers.  The lone difference was VWC drained 11-of-12 free throws while WPI nailed just 3-of-8.    

The loss marked the final collegiate game for WPI seniors Ryan Bourque (Nashua, NH), Coleman and Marois.  The trio ended with an eye-popping four-year of 90-19 (.826) and are the winningest class in school history.

Portions of the Release Courtesy Rob Knox - Lincoln Sports Information