SALISBURY, Md. - The Salisbury University men's basketball team played its first game of the decade on home turf, squaring off against Virginia Wesleyan College on Monday night. The contest was a nail-biter as the Marlins narrowly escaped with a 79-69 victory.

Salisbury (4-6, 0-2 Capital Athletic Conference) seemed undeterred by the Marlins' impressive 10-1 record; the Sea Gulls blazed down the court early on in the game, going on a 5-0 scoring run in the first 48 seconds of play. The game was back-and-forth but the maroon and gold rarely trailed in the first half, going into the locker room with a one-point advantage over the Marlins.

The Marlins (11-1) turned up the heat in the second half, but the Sea Gulls were ready. The teams continued their aggressive play, but Virginia Wesleyan was able to slowly pull away and take a nine-point lead with 11 minutes remaining in the game. Salisbury hustled up the court and took Virginia Wesleyan's lead down to just one point with seven minutes left to play, but the Marlins once again hit enough shots to ground the Sea Gulls. Salisbury was led by senior guard Devin Jones (Severn, Md.), who scored 32 points and pulled down six rebounds. Three other Sea Gulls scored double-digits in the game; sophomore forward Mike Mackzo (Bel Air, Md.) scored 15 points, junior center Chris McGrew (Burtonsville, Md.) scored 10 points and senior guard Drew Dickson (Silver Spring, Md.) netted 12 points in the Sea Gull effort.

The Sea Gulls will travel to Washington, D.C. for their next contest to face off against CAC foe Gallaudet University on Jan. 6 at 8 p.m. Their next home game will be on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 4 p.m. against CAC opponent Marymount (Va.) University.