Washington and Lee University
LAST TIME OUT
Bridgewater senior guard Robert Rice hit a pair of free throws with 3.5 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Eagles to a 67-66 win over the Washington and Lee men’s basketball team at the Warner Center on Saturday afternoon. W&L senior guard Isaiah Goodman hit a pair of free throws with one second remaining in regulation to knot the score at 59-59 and force the extra frame. W&L jumped out to an early 14-4 lead following a layup from senior forward Kirk Jones at the 13:36 mark, before the Eagles began chipping away at the lead, eventually taking a 23-22 advantage at the 3:10 mark. Following a layup by senior forward Ben Heller at the first half buzzer, BC led 30-26 at the break. Including Goodman’s free throws to force overtime, the Generals managed to tie the game on several occasions in the second half, but were never able to take the lead. In the overtime period, Heller’s layup at the 4:01 mark gave W&L its first lead (61-59) since a 22-21 advantage at the 3:44 mark of the first half. With the score tied 65-65, Heller split a pair of free throws to put the Generals up 66-65 with 45 seconds remaining. Bridgewater junior forward Jake Johnson missed a potential game-winning shot with 24 seconds left, but Rice collected the offensive rebound and W&L senior guard Chris McHugh was whistled for a foul to put Rice at the line for the game-deciding free throws. McHugh’s 30-footer at the buzzer fell just short. The Generals were hampered by 55.6 percent shooting from the charity-stripe, hitting just 15 of their 27 attempts, while Bridgewater connected on 16-of-20 from the line. Heller led the Generals with a game and career-high 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field. He also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Goodman and McHugh added 11 points apiece and McHugh had four steals. Bridgewater was led by junior guard Dominic Trawick’s 23 points and nine rebounds, while Rice scored 10 points and grabbed six boards. Senior forward Justin Reavis chipped in seven points and seven rebounds.
THE HEAD GENERAL
Adam Hutchinson (Amherst '93) is in his sixth season as the head coach at Washington and Lee. Hutchinson has led W&L to a 52-94 (.359) record, including back-to-back-to-back seasons with double-digit wins for the first time since 1988-1991. For last season's winning effort (15-11), Hutchinson was honored as the ODAC Coach of the Year. In his 11 seasons as a head coach, Hutchinson claims an 85-161 (.347) overall record.
THE SERIES
Washington and Lee holds an all-time mark of 37-76 against the Maroons and sports a 49-25 ledger against EMU all-time. W&L has already defeated both teams this season on their home floors. W&L took an 82-74 contest from Eastern Mennonite on Jan. 7, and defeated Roanoke, 68-66, on Jan. 17.
LAST TIME VS. ROANOKE (1/17/2009)
Junior forward Zac White hit a jumper with 1.7 seconds remaining to lift the Washington and Lee men’s basketball team to a thrilling 68-66 victory over 18th-ranked Roanoke at the Bast Center. The win snapped a 13-game winning streak for the Maroons. The triumph also marked Head Coach Adam Hutchinson’s 50th win at Washington and Lee and it is also the first time the Generals have defeated a ranked opponent since a 44-42 victory over then No. 5 Hampden-Sydney in 1997. The Maroons led by as many as 14 points in the second half (55-41), but the Generals chipped away at the lead, eventually tying the game at 66-66 with 52 seconds remaining on a three-pointer by White. Roanoke then turned the ball over, which set up White for the game-winner. It was W&L’s first lead since 18-17 with 8:41 remaining in the first half. The Generals shot 71.4 percent from the charity stripe (20-28) and committed just 10 turnovers. However, RC held a 34-23 advantage on the boards. W&L was paced by White, who tied a season-high with 22 points. Senior guard Chris McHugh recorded 11 points, while sophomore guard Jason Cimino tallied a career-high 11 markers in just 18 minutes of action. Junior forward Ben Goetsch also grabbed five boards. Roanoke was led by senior guard Drew Gaeng’s 17 points. Senior center Curtis Peery added 12 markers, while sophomore guard Parrish Walker chipped in 10 points.
GET TO KNOW ROANOKE
Roanoke College pulled away from Eastern Mennonite midway through the second half as the Maroons claimed an 84-63 conference win over the Royals Saturday on evening in Harrisonburg, Va. The Maroons' senior center Curtis Peery led all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field. Sophomore center William Sheppard had 14 points off the bench while sophomore guard Parrish Walker tallied 13 points and four rebounds in the win. EMU was led by sophomore guard George Johnson who poured in 21 points. Sophomore guard Todd Phillips had 10 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and three steals in the loss. The Royals trailed for most of the first half but never let the Maroons out of sight. After a three-pointer by sophomore guard D.J. Hinson cut the RC lead to three (17-14) with 10:06 remaining in the opening stanza, Roanoke proceeded to build an eight-point lead with just over seven minutes remaining. Following two free throw shots by Johnson, Roanoke added one last point from the charity stripe to take a 37-30 lead into the locker room. In the second half, Roanoke was able to build a 10-point cushion (55-45) with 13:51 on the clock. The Maroons quickly went up by 16 points following a layup from senior forward Zach Milton to make it 63-47 with 11:13 remaining as Roanoke cruised to the victory. Roanoke enters this week tied with Bridgewater for fourth in the conference with an ODAC mark of 9-5. Since W&L's dramatic victory over the Maroons on Jan. 17, RC has posted a 3-4 record. Peery leads Roanoke with 18.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. His scoring average is good for third in the ODAC, while his rebounding rate ranks him fourth. Walker is averaging 11.7 points per game and sophomore guard Melvin Felix checks in at 10.6 points per contest.
LAST TIME VS EASTERN MENNONITE(1/7/2009)
Junior forward Zac White tallied a season-high 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor in leading Washington and Lee to an 82-74 victory over Eastern Mennonite at Yoder Arena. The Generals shot 72.0 percent (18-25) from the floor in the first half and closed the opening stanza on an 18-9 run to assume a 43-35 lead at the break. W&L led by as many as 14 points (54-40) in the second half, but could not pull away from the Royals, who eventually cut it to a three-point game (77-74) with 1:18 remaining. However, senior forward Kirk Jones hit a jumper the next time down the court and the Generals pulled away for the eight-point victory. White also hauled in a career-high eight rebounds, while senior forward Ben Heller notched 15 points and tied a career-best with eight boards. Jones registered 12 points and six rebounds, while junior forward Ben Goetsch chipped in 12 points as well. Sophomore guard George Johnson paced EMU with 18 points. Sophomore guard D.J. Hinson and junior guard Austin Twine added 13 and 10 points, respectively.
EASING INTO EASTERN MENNONITE
Roanoke College pulled away from Eastern Mennonite midway through the second half as the Maroons claimed an 84-63 conference win over the Royals on Saturday evening in Harrisonburg, Va. The Maroons' senior center Curtis Peery led all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field. Sophomore center William Sheppard had 14 points off the bench while sophomore guard Parrish Walker tallied 13 points and four rebounds in the win. EMU was led by sophomore guard George Johnson who poured in 21 points. Sophomore guard Todd Phillips had 10 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and three steals in the loss. The Royals trailed for most of the first half but never let the Maroons out of sight. After a three-pointer by sophomore guard D.J. Hinson cut the RC lead to three (17-14) with 10:06 remaining in the opening stanza, Roanoke proceeded to build an eight-point lead with just over seven minutes remaining. Following two free throw shots by Johnson, Roanoke added one last point from the charity stripe to take a 37-30 lead into the locker room. In the second half, Roanoke was able to build a 10-point cushion (55-45) with 13:51 on the clock. The Maroons quickly went up by 16 points following a layup from senior forward Zach Milton to make it 63-47 with 11:13 remaining as Roanoke cruised to victory. The Royals are led by Johnson's 16.9 points per game while Hinson is averaging 14.6 points per contest. Phillips is averaging 12.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per night.
STRONG START = STRONG FINISH
W&L is 30-5 in its last 35 games (8-4 this season) when leading at the break and has compiled a 64-28 (.696) record over the past 11 years when it leads at the break. W&L has won a total of 85 games during that stretch, meaning that the Generals have led at halftime in 75 percent of their wins during the last 11 years.
FIFTY NIFTY
W&L's 68-66 win over Roanoke gave W&L head coach Adam Hutchinson his 50th win at the helm of the Generals. With the win, Hutchinson became just the sixth head coach in the 101-year history of W&L basketball to reach the 50-win plateau and the first since Verne Canfield did it during the 1967-68 campaign.
THE ".700" CLUB
The Generals opened the season 7-3, the first time since the 1989-90 season that W&L has won at least seven of its first 10 games and just the 15th time the feat has been accomplished since 1950. Since 1950, on every occasion that a Generals team has opened with at least a 7-3 record, that team has finished the season with a winning record.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
Four times this season the Generals have trailed at the half and come back to win, including twice overcoming an 11-point halftime deficit. W&L trailed Connecticut College 28-17 at the break and wound up defeating the Camels, 60-52. Most recently, W&L trailed No. 18 Roanoke 39-28 at the break and came back to defeat the Maroons, 68-66.
FAMILIAR FOE
Here's hoping that the familarity of this week's opponents will bode well for junior forward Zac White. White posted season-highs of 22 points against both teams earlier this season on a combined 15-of-23 shooting from the floor. Additionally, White hit on a combined 7-of-12 three-point attempts, 7-of-11 free throw attempts and averaged 5.5 rebounds per contest.
HIGH WATER MARK
W&L has not hit the 70-point threshold since a 73-60 win over Hampden-Sydney on Jan. 24, and has done so in just one of its last 10 games. The Generals record in those 10 games is just 4-6, while W&L boasts a 6-1 record when it scores at least 70 points.
BOARD WORK
Washington and Lee sports a -2.0 rebounding margin on the season, the third-lowest mark in the ODAC. Opponents grab an average of 34.2 rebounds while limiting W&L to just 32.2 rebounds per game. On the season, W&L has been out-rebounded 786-741. In Saturday's loss to Bridgewater, the Generals were out-rebounded 44-28. Of the five ODAC teams with a negative rebounding margin, W&L and Eastern Mennonite are the only two to boast a winning record. On the season the Royals have the second-worst rebound margin in the league at -6.1 (40.2-34.1).
STAGGERING HOME
Under current head coach Adam Hutchinson, the Generals have prospered in recent years. Under his stewardship, they have recorded double-digit wins in three-straight seasons as well as the first winning-season in 20 years. However, W&L has had some struggles down the stretch. During Hutchinson's tenure at W&L, the Generals have posted a winning percentage of just .220 (11-39) in the last 10 games of a season. This season is no different as W&L is 2-6 in its last eight with two games remaining.
Record in Last 10 Games (Overall Record)
2003-04 4-6 (7-18)
2004-05 0-10 (2-23)
2005-06 2-8 (4-19)
2006-07 1-9 (11-14)
2007-08 4-6 (15-11)
2008-09 2-6 (13-10)
FREEBIES
On the season, the Generals shoot an average of 23.5 free throws per game, including 27 in their 67-66 overtime loss to Bridgewater on Saturday. For the year, W&L is hitting on 65.0 percent of its foul shots (351-540), but has seen that success rate rise in the clutch, connecting on 71.7 percent (99-138) of its foul shots in the last five minutes and overtime, while it hits just 62.7 percent (252-402) of its tries during the rest of the game. True to form, W&L connected on 69.2 percent (9-13) of its charity tosses in the last five minutes and overtime in the Blue and White's loss to Bridgewater. The Generals connected on just 42.9 percent (6-14) the remainder of the game.
DROP OFF
After averaging a team-high 11.7 points through the team's first 16 games, junior forward Zac White has seen his scoring average dip to just 6.6 points over the last seven contests. After 16 games, Washington and Lee was sporting a 12-4 record and has gone just 1-6 over the last seven contests. White has scored in double-figures on 10 occasions this year and the Generals have posted an 8-2 mark when he scores at least 10 points.
HELLER'S HELPING HAND
Senior forward Ben Heller seems to be a point guard trapped in a forward's body. After posting just 11 assists over the Generals first 15 games (0.7 apg), the 6-foot-6 Heller has recorded 17 assists in the last eight contests (2.1 apg) and has led the Generals in assists in five different games. Senior guards Chris McHugh (14) and Isaiah Goodman (8) are the only Generals to lead the team in assists on more occasions than Heller.
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