VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The 2008-09 men's basketball season got underway for Salisbury University on the road against No. 24 Virginia Wesleyan College in a non-conference Tuesday evening game. The Marlins, two years removed from their NCAA Division III national championship season, handed the Sea Gulls a 71-47 loss before 750 at the Batten Center.

Salisbury (0-1) cut the Virginia Wesleyan lead down to nine late in the first half but wasn't able to pull closer the rest of the game. The Marlins (2-0) took a 30-14 lead into halftime.

Junior Greg Palmer drained the first bucket of the game, less than a minute in, to give SU a quick 2-0 lead. Sea Gull 6-foot-9 center Chris McGrew scored off a Devin Jones assist the next time down the court as the maroon and gold led 4-2. In the next 11 minutes, the Marlins went on a 19-0 run.

The Gulls answered back with a 9-1 run, in a three-minute span, behind four points from forward Lee Righter, a Jones three-pointer and a bucket from junior Preston Faulk. VWC closed out the half on an 8-1 spurt to take the 16-point advantage into the break.

Palmer led all Sea Gull scorers with nine points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Faulk matched Palmer with nine points and two assists. Righter had eight points and four rebounds in his SU debut. Jones scored seven and grabbed four boards in his return to the court for SU after a year hiatus.

VWC was led by three players who reached double-digits. Quinton McDuffie came off the bench to score a game-high 19 points and seven rebounds. Stephen Fields added 16 points and six rebounds while Terrell Dixon chipped in 12 and six assists.

Salisbury will next travel to Carlisle, Pa., this Friday, November 21, to face Eastern University in the Dickinson College Tip-Off tournament.