Maalox purchases must have soared on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan as the Marlins kept fans on the edge of their seats throughout the Division III Men’s Basketball Championship.

Sophomore guard Ton Ton Balegna was the lead conductor on the Marlins’ rollercoaster journey, which culminated with a 59-56 championship-game victory over Wittenberg in Salem, Virginia, March 18. It was Virginia Wesleyan’s first national championship in any sport.

Balegna capped a come-from-behind win in the title game by making a three-point shot with 2.1 seconds remaining for the winning margin. It was the first time Virginia Wesleyan led in the entire game.

A desperation toss by Wittenberg failed, and the Marlins were able to celebrate despite playing catch-up basketball for 39 minutes and 58 seconds.

Wittenberg led, 29-19, at halftime and appeared to be in control after limiting Virginia Wesleyan to 26 percent shooting from the field in the opening 20 minutes.

The Marlins went to a trapping press to force turnovers and found their shooting touch along way by making 57 percent of their shots in the second half.

“We were fighting uphill the whole game,” said Virginia Wesleyan coach Dave Macedo in the Virginian-Pilot. “Wittenberg had us on the ropes. But we kept fighting and fighting, chipping away at it, and then Ton Ton made some big plays down the stretch.”

Balegna, who was named the tournament’s most outstanding player, scored 22 points in the championship game. He erased a 52-48 deficit with less than two minutes to play by making a lay up and then registering a steal on the ensuing Wittenberg possession.

Belegna sank a short jump shot to tie the game. However, the Tigers were able to go up by two on two occasions, the last coming at 56-54 with just over a minute remaining.

Marlins post player Brandon Adair made two free throws with 49 seconds remaining to tie the game again. After a turnover by Wittenberg, the Marlins wanted to work the ball inside to Adair for the final shot, but he was covered. The ball ended up in Balegna’s hands, which proved to be good for Virginia Wesleyan.

“Tyler Fantin set the best screen I’ve ever had in my life,” Balenga said. “At first, I thought the shot was going a little right, but it went in. I didn’t know how much time was left. After Brandon Adair didn’t get the ball, I just wanted to go out and give us a chance to win.”

Balegna’s play in previous rounds of the tournament kept his team advancing through the brackets.

In a sectional game against Lincoln (Pennsylvania), Balegna swished a three-pointer with three seconds remaining to give the Marlins a 72-71 victory. Then in the national semifinals against Illinois Wesleyan, he made a three-pointer with 1:26 left to give his team a 79-77 lead. The Marlins eventually won, 81-79.

Wittenberg defeated Amherst, 64-60, in the other semifinal to set the stage for the championship game.

“It’s brutal to lose, and it’s even more brutal to lose the way it unfolded at the end,” said Wittenberg coach Bill Brown after his team finished the season 30-4. “That was a big-time shot by (Belegna). We had it well defended. All of the sudden, right before the shot, he got some separation from the defender.”

 Virginia Wesleyan ended the season on a 28-game win streak, 30-3 overall.

“We’re the last team standing,” Adair said. “I was joking with Ton Ton: ‘Who are we playing next?’ ”

Belegna and Adair were joined on the all-tournament team by Keelan Amelianovich of Illinois Wesleyan and Wittenberg’s Dane Borchers and Dan Russ.

Sectionals

At Lawrence — Ill. Wesleyan 71, Lawrence 68; Puget Sound 92, Augustana (Ill.) 86; Ill. Wesleyan 113, Puget Sound 99.

At Va. Wesleyan — Va. Wesleyan 72, Lincoln (Pa.) 71; Wm. Paterson 52, Widener 45; Va. Wesleyan 46, Wm. Paterson 35.

At Amherst — Amherst 90, Tufts 85; St. John Fisher 94, Utica 78; Amherst 93, St. John Fisher 70.

At Wittenberg — Transylvania 76, Mississippi Col. 64; Wittenberg 56, Hope 49; Wittenberg 74, Transylvania 61.

Semifinals

Va. Wesleyan 81, Ill. Wesleyan 79

Va. Wesleyan: D’Juan Tucker 3-5, 0-0, 4, 7; Marques Fitch 2-6, 0-0, 4, 4; Ton Ton Balengna 4-11, 2-2, 1, 13; Brandon Adair 10-16, 9-12, 8, 29; Tyler Fantin 7-13, 1-1, 5, 19; Tory Green 1-3, 0-0, 0, 2; Terrell Dixon 2-2, 0-0, 0, 4; Rodney Young 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Matt Towell 1-2, 0-0, 1, 3. TOTALS: 30-58, 12-15, 24 (1 team), 81.

 Ill. Wesleyan: Jason Fisher 1-2, 0-0, 3, 2; Adma Dauksas 1-7, 0-0, 4, 3; Zach Freeman 13-16, 1-2, 7, 27; Keelan Amelianovich 12-19, 2-3, 4, 28; Cory Jones 5-9, 2-4, 5, 12; Matt Arnold 1-2, 0-0, 2, 2; Andrew Freeman 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Chris Jones 1-2, 1-2, 3, 3; Steve Schweer 1-1, 0-0, 1, 2. TOTALS: 35-58, 6-11, 30 (1 team), 79.

Halftime: Ill. Wesleyan 38, Va. Wesleyan 37. Three-point field goals: Va. Wesleyan 9-22 (Fantin 4-9, Balegna 3-6, Towell 1-1, Tucker 1-3, Green 0-1, Fitch 0-2); Ill. Wesleyan 3-9 (Amelianovich 2-4, Dauksas 1-4, Arnold 0-1). Officials: Tim Mahoney, Lee Marelli, Jeffrey Smith.

Wittenberg 64, Amherst 60

Wittenberg: Pat Denbow 1-3, 0-0, 0, 3; Phil Steffes 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Kenny Brady 4-9, 0-0, 1, 9; Dane Borchers 6-12, 3-4, 9, 15; Daniel Russ 10-14, 6-12, 7, 26; Gregg Hill 2-6, 0-0, 1, 5; Dan McNeely 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Billy Bowen 0-0, 0-0, 2, 0; D.J. Corbett 0-2, 1-2, 2, 1; Jack Hemenway 1-3, 3-4, 1, 5. TOTALS: 24-49, 13-22, 30 (5 team), 64.

Amherst: John Casnocha 3-11, 0-0, 1, 8; Dan Wheeler 2-10, 4-4, 2, 9; Dan O’Shea 1-1, 2-4, 4, 4; John Bedford 3-11, 1-2, 6, 9; Andrew Olson 5-8, 2-2, 1, 14; Adolphe Coulibaly 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Tim McLaughlin 2-2, 1-2, 1, 7; Ray Corrigan 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Matt Goldsmith 2-3, 1-4, 3, 6; Keith Zalaski 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Kevin Hopkins 1-2, 1-1, 5, 3. TOTALS: 19-48, 12-19, 28 (3 team), 60.

Halftime: Wittenberg 25, Amherst 23. Three-point field goals: Wittenberg 3-14 (Denbow 1-3, Hill 1-4, Brady 1-5, Corbett 0-2); Amherst 10-18 (McLaughlin 2-2, Olson 2-2, Bedford 2-2, Casnocha 2-8, Goldsmith 1-1, Wheeler 1-3). Officials: Joe Thiesen, Alfred Smith, Pic Russey.

Third-place game

Ill. Wesleyan 71, Amherst 68

Amherst: Ray Corrigan 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0; John Bedford 5-15, 3-4, Keith Zalaski 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; John Casnocha 1-5, 0-0, 1, 3; Dan O’Shea 1-3, 0-0, 4, 2; Adolphe Coulibaly 1-2, 0-0, 2, 3; Tim McLaughlin 3-7, 2-2, 7, 11; Matt Goldsmith 1-4, 0-0, 4, 2; Dan Wheeler 6-15, 2-2, 4, 20; Kevin Hopkins 1-2, 2-4, 2, 4; Andrew Olson 4-10, 0-0, 1, 9; Brandon Jones 0-2, 0-0, 0, 0. Totals: 23-66, 9-12, 33 (3 team), 68.

Ill. Wesleyan: Jason Fisher 5-6, 2-2, 5, 16; Adam Dauksas 2-12, 0-0, 3, 4; Zach Freeman 7-9, 5-9, 7, 19; Keelan Amelianovich 8-14, 0-0, 8, 21, Cory Jones 2-5, 1-2, 5, 5; Matt Arnold 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Mike McGraw 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Andrew Freeman 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Chris Jones 1-2, 0-0, 4, 2; Steve Schweer 2-2, 0-0, 2, 4. Totals: 27-51, 8-13, 36 (2 team) 71.

Halftime: Ill. Wesleyan 44, Amherst 31. Three-point field goals: Amherst 13-34 (Wheeler 6-12, McLaughlin 3-7, Coulibaly 1-2, Bedford 1-4, Casnocha 1-4, Olson 1-4, Goldsmith 0-1); Ill. Wesleyan 9-18 (Amelianovich 5-8, Fisher 4-5, Arnold 0-1, Dauksas 0-4). Officials: Wallace Whitfield, Chad Palmer, John Creek.

Championship game

Va. Wesleyan 59, Wittenberg 56

Wittenberg: Pat Denbow 0-1, 0-1, 1, 0; Phil Steffes 0-2, 0-0, 0, 0; Kenny Brady 4-11, 2-3, 1, 13; Dane Borchers 5-8, 5-7, 7, 15; Daniel Russ 7-15, 0-1, 9, 14; Gregg Hill 2-3, 4-4, 4, 8; Dan McNeely 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Billy Bowen 0-0, 0-0, 2, 0; Jack Hemenway 3-4, 0-0, 2, 6; Mark Huelsman 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Totals: 21-44, 11-16, 29 (2 team), 56.

Va. Wesleyan: D’Juan Tucker 2-4, 0-0, 5, 4; Marques Fitch 1-1, 4-4, 2, 6; Ton Ton Balegna 9-18, 1-3, 4, 22; Brandon Adair 8-13, 5-8, 4, 21; Tyler Fantin 1-5, 0-0, 3, 3; Tory Green 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Terrell Dixon 1-5, 0-0, 0, 3; Rodney Young 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Matt Towell 0-2, 0-0, 1, 0. Totals: 22-51, 10-15, 26 (6 team), 59.

Halftime: Wittenberg 29, Va. Wesleyan 19. Three-point field goals: Wittenberg 3-9 (Brady 3-6, Denbow 0-1, Steffes 0-1, Hill 0-1); Va. Wesleyan 5-15 (Balegna 3-6, Fantin 1-3, Dixon 1-3, Tucker 0-1, Fitch 0-1, Towell 0-1). Officials: John Stigliano, Brad Fowler, Glen Dixon.