VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (January 13, 2010)—Though the Tigers were down 11 with just over six minutes to play, they went on to outscore the #8 Virginia Wesleyan Marlins 13-5 to come within just three points, but could not hit the game-tying shot and fell just short in a heartbreaking 69-67 loss.

The Marlins took no time to find the basket as Jamie Richardson scored just seven seconds into the game, but Hampden-Sydney, behind five points from Turner King (Roanoke, VA/Roanoke Catholic), tied the game at 6-6 three minutes into the contest.

An Alex Potapov (Moscow, Russia/Florida Air) lay up gave Hampden-Sydney its first lead at 8-6, and after Chris Moore tied the game again, sophomore Ben Jessee (Midlothian, VA/Cosby) took the lead right back with a three pointer.

Virginia Wesleyan brought the lead down to one on three occasions, but the Tigers maintained the lead up until the 8:07 mark when two Stephen Fields free throws put the Marlins up 18-17.

Jonathan Mudd (Miami, FL/American) hit two free throws of his own giving the Tigers the lead back. Potapov and Randall Ward (Richmond, VA/John Marshall) then hit back-to-back jumpers to extend the lead to 24-18.

The Marlins, however, closed the half on a 14-7 run to take a 32-31 advantage into the locker room. Virginia Wesleyan built upon its momentum, scoring the first seven points of the second stanza before a Potapov foul shot broke the Tiger drought.

With his team down 41-32, freshman Harrison George (Raleigh, NC/Leesville) scored eight of the next 11 points to put the Tigers up 45-44 with 13:04 to play.

Ed Roberts then nailed a trey to put the Marlins back up; they managed to pull away in the next seven minutes to a 62-51 lead.

Hampden-Sydney battled back, but the Marlins extended the lead back to 10 with just over two minutes to play. The Tigers were not, though, and four free throws along with two big defensive stops put the Tigers down just six points at 67-61 with 1:04 to play.

The Tigers got one more stop, and Lane Medlin (West Point, VA/Fork Union) hit a big three to put the Tigers within three points with 30 seconds to play.

After a Marlins turnover, Hampden-Sydney had the ball and the chance at the last shot to tie the game. The Tigers saw two shots rattle out, but Virginia Wesleyan put the game out of reach from the foul line with five seconds to play.

Hampden-Sydney, which falls to 6-8 and 2-4 in the ODAC, was 50% from the field on 22-of-44 shooting while King and Jessee led the team with 13 points each. George had 10 points while Potapov tallied nine.

Virginia Wesleyan's Stephen Fields led all scorers with 25 points while Virginia Wesleyan was 25-of-61 (41%) from the floor. The Marlins also edged Hampden-Sydney in rebounds 32-31.

Hampden-Sydney will return to action this Saturday, January 16 as it travels to Bridgewater, VA to take on the Eagles of Bridgewater College. Tip off is set for 1:00 pm.