WINCHESTER, Va. – No. 8 Virginia Wesleyan used a strong defensive effort to earn a 76-68 ODAC men's basketball victory over Shenandoah Wednesday evening.

The Marlins (12-2, 4-1 ODAC) scored 20 second chance points and 17 points off of turnovers to outlast Shenandoah (1-13, 0-5).

The game featured seven lead changes and five ties with the Hornets cutting a 15-point VWC lead to just six with 1:11 to play.

Coach Rob Pryor's club then forced a missed Marlins shot on the ensuing possession, but Virginia Wesleyan was able to corral the offensive rebound and then hit two free throws with 33 seconds left to seal the victory.

In the first, feeding off the energy of a capacity crowd, SU jumped out to a 9-4 lead and led until VWC took its first lead at 16-14 thanks to a 12-5 run from the 15:10 to 10:12 marks.

The Marlins eventually extended their advantage out to seven points at 30-23 with 5:19 remaining before SU scored eight straight points in a span of 2:11 to retake the lead at 30-29.

VWC scored four of the final six points of the half to lead 34-33 at the break.

The second half brought two lead changes and three ties with the Marlins taking the lead for good on a Nick Doyle 3-pointer with 12:57 to play.

This bucket, which came off of a fastbreak, started a 20-3 spurt in the next 6:36 that threatened to turn the game into a rout.

The Hornets refused to fold its collective tent, however, storming back on the strength of a 17-6 run in the next 4:52.

Junior Malcolm Clark, who led all players with 26 points, had 10 of the 17 points during the span on three field goals (one 3-pointer) and a 3 of 3 performance from the line.

Clark added 10 rebounds to post his first-ever double-double.

Antwan Pittman backed up Clark with 10 points.

Khory Moore and Cameron Owens each had 15 points for the Marlins.

Shenandoah shot 48 percent for the game and saw VWC grab 40 of the game's 76 rebounds.

SU takes to the road Saturday for a 3 p.m. ODAC game at Guilford.

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