W&L Men's Basketball Notes - Week 9

Game 18: W&L (9-8, 4-4 ODAC) at Randolph-Macon (9-8, 4-4 ODAC)
Date: Wednesday, January 23, 7:00 pm
Location: Ashland, Va.
Series Record: R-MC leads, 62-15

Game 19: VWC (12-4, 8-0 ODAC) at W&L (9-8, 4-4 ODAC)
Date: Saturday, January 26, 2:00 pm
Location: Lexington, Va.
Series Record: VWC leads, 43-10

Game Notes

LAST TIME OUT  •   W&L 62, #22 Guilford 58 (1/19/13)
Washington and Lee won its third straight game and ended the nine-game winning streak of 22nd-ranked Guilford in the process, claiming a 62-58 victory over the Quakers on Saturday at the Warner Center. Sophomore guard Javon McDonald nailed seven three-pointers (7-of-9) to lead the Generals with 21 points. W&L never trailed in the contest, and led for the final 15:13 of the second half. Guilford cut the Generals lead to two, 57-55, with 2:32 remaining in the game on a layup by senior guard Josh Pittman. After a turnover by the Blue and White, GC missed a jumper that would have tied the game. On the ensuring possession, junior guard Kevin Gill hit a three from the top of the key to push the advantage to 60-55 with 52 seconds left. Pittman responded with a layup, 60-57, and the Quakers immediately fouled to send Gill to the line for a 1-and-1. He missed the first, but sophomore guard Matt McCarthy sailed a pass out of bounds to give the ball back to W&L with 13 ticks on the clock. First-year forward Andrew Franz sealed the game, nailing two shots from the charity stripe to extend the lead to five (62-57). Junior guard Jarred Hinton split a pair of free throws with 0.3 seconds left to reach the 62-58 final. It marked the fifth-straight season the Generals defeated a ranked opponent. W&L had a season-low six turnovers and shot 37.9 percent (22-58) from the floor. The team made 12 three-pointers on 38.7 percent (12-31) shooting, but struggled from the foul line at 54.5 percent (6-11). McDonald drained six of his seven three-pointers in the first half and also finished the game with three rebounds, two assists and one steal. Franz netted 10 points, while grabbing five boards and dishing out three assists. Senior forward J.D. Ey just missed a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds. He also added three blocks, two steals and two assists. Guilford ended the game at 39.3 percent (22-56) from the field, and connected on only 7-of-21 (33.3 percent) threes. The Quakers turned the ball over 11 times, but held a 38-34 advantage on the glass. McCarthy led GC with 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting. He also totaled six rebounds, one steal and one assist. Pittman tallied 17 points and four assists, and junior forward Jake Hopkins recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
 
LAST TIME AGAINST RANDOLPH-MACON  •  W&L 78, #21 R-MC 56 (2/4/12)
Washington and Lee had five players score in double figures and the Generals turned in a dominant performance on the boards in defeating No. 21 Randolph-Macon, 78-56, on February 4, 2012 at the Warner Center. The Generals limited R-MC to 29.6 percent (16-54) shooting, while shooting better than 50.0 percent (.506, 27-53) themselves. W&L also out-rebounded R-MC, 43-25, and never trailed in the victory. The Blue and White opened the contest scoring six of the first eight points to assume a 6-2 lead at the 16:13 mark. A three-pointer by R-MC senior guard Zach Desgain pulled the Yellow Jackets to within a single point (6-5), but was answered by a 13-6 W&L scoring run that gave the Generals a 19-11 lead at the 9:00 mark. Forward Jeremy Adkins scored seven points for the Generals during the run. After Randolph-Macon made the score 21-14 just over a minute later, W&L answered with a 10-0 spurt to take a 17-point lead (31-14) by the 3:28 mark. Forward J.D. Ey scored six points to fuel this second W&L scoring outburst. The Generals would lead by as many as 20 points late in the first half before four straight points from the Yellow Jackets in the final minute of the opening period made it a 37-21 game at the break. The two teams traded baskets over the first three minutes of the second half before R-MC used a 12-3 scoring run over a 4:15 span to get its deficit under double digits (47-38) for the first time since midway through the first half. Washington and Lee had another answer however, using a 16-6 run to push its lead back out to 19 points (63-44) by the 7:25 mark and essentially put the game away. Dunks by Ey and forward Larry Whitaker highlighted the spurt in which W&L made 6-of-8 shots from the floor and all four of its free throws. Guard Javon McDonald led all scorers with 16 points. Ey recorded a double-double with 14 points and 17 rebounds. Adkins also finished with 14 points, Whitaker chipped in 11 and guard Kevin Gill contributed 10 markers off the bench. Whitaker also grabbed seven boards for the Generals and Ey notched four assists, three blocks and a pair of steals. Guard Marcus Badger led the Yellow Jackets with 14 points, including 6-of-6 shooting from the line. Forward Andre Simon added 12 points off the bench and Desgain had 10 points. Senior guard Calvin Croskey tossed in seven points and had four steals.

SCOUTING RANDOLPH-MACON
The Yellow Jackets come into Wednesday's game with a 9-8 overall record and are tied with the Generals at 4-4 in the ODAC. Randolph-Macon ended a two-game losing streak on Saturday when it won at Emory & Henry, 79-58. Sophomore forward Akeem Holmes finished the game with a career-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor and pulled down a career-best 11 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double. Senior forward Lamar Giggetts joined Holmes in double-figures with 14 points. Sophomore guard Connor Sullivan had nine points, while senior center Dylan Cole and sophomore guard Marcus Badger each had eight points for R-MC. The Yellow Jackets are averaging 68.2 points per game on 45.6 percent (436-957) shooting. Giggetts leads the team in scoring with 14.6 points per game. Junior forward Andre Simon is the team-leader in rebounds at 6.8 per game. R-MC leads the all-time series with W&L, 62-15. The Yellow Jackets have won seven of the last 10 games, but the Generals won last year's contest, 78-56. W&L last won at Randolph-Macon on Jan. 27, 2010. The victory ended a 30-game road losing streak against the Yellow Jackets.

LAST TIME AGAINST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN  •  #7 VWC 87, W&L 63 (2/24/12)
Top-seeded and seventh-ranked Virginia Wesleyan defeated ninth-seeded Washington and Lee, 87-63, in the quarterfinal round of the ODAC Tournament on February 24 at the Salem Civic Center. The Marlins shot 52.3 percent (34-65) from the floor, including 55.0 percent (11-20) from behind the arc, in advancing to the semifinal round. Forward J.D. Ey scored the game's first points and gave the Generals (13-14) a 2-0 lead 1:35 into the contest, before VWC ripped off the game's next six points to take a 6-2 lead at the 17:05 mark. W&L trailed 11-6 following a pair of free throws by guard Clay McClean, but the Marlins reeled off a 13-2 scoring run, led by six points from senior guard Art Crew and five points from forward Chris Astorga to assume a 24-8 lead with 12:07 left in the opening half. The Generals trimmed their deficit to 13 points (26-13) at the 10:18 mark on a three-point play from forward Larry Whitaker, but VWC quickly pushed back out to a 20-point lead and went into the break with a 19-point advantage (45-26). Virginia Wesleyan shot 59.4 percent (19-32) in the opening half, and made good on 7-of-10 attempts from distance. The Marlins also out-rebounded the Generals, 17-14, and forced nine turnovers. In the second period, the Marlins extended to a 24-point lead by scoring seven of the half's first nine points, capped by an Astorga dunk at the 18:12 mark. The Generals once again managed to trim their deficit to 13 points (54-41) with 13:18 left to play, but a 15-5 Marlin spurt ended any comeback hopes for the Generals. Whitaker paced W&L with 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting, while also adding seven rebounds. Guard Kevin Gill added 14 points, including 3-of-4 shooting from deep, and center Taylor Gilfillan chipped in 10 points and eight boards. Astorga led all scorers with 23 points, guard Chris Teasley added 15 points and guard DJ Woodmore netted 12 point and seven helpers. Guard Tre' Ford totaled eight points, eight rebounds and six assists.

SCOUTING VIRGINIA WESLEYAN
The Marlins enter the week on a five-game winning streak and have a 12-4 overall record and a perfect 8-0 mark in the ODAC. Virginia Wesleyan most recently earned an 89-82 victory at Roanoke on Saturday. Five Marlins scored in double figures led by senior guard Chris Teasley and senior guard Tre' Ford with 19 points each. Junior guard DJ Woodmore added 18 points, senior forward Chris Astorga scored 12 and junior forward Trent Batson finished with 10.  The Marlins are averaging 77.5 points per game on 43.7 percent (427-978) shooting. Astorga leads the team in scoring with 15.3 points per game with Woodmore right behind him at 15.1 per game. Woodmore is the team-leader in rebounds at 7.2 per game. VWC leads the all-time series with the Generals, 43-10. The Marlins have won the last 23 games over W&L, including 10 straight in Lexington. The Blue and White last defeated the Marlins on December 2, 2001 in Virginia Beach, Va., 57-55. The last home win for the Generals over VWC came on January 2, 2000, 60-52.

THE HEAD GENERAL
Adam Hutchinson (Amherst, '93) is in his 10th season as the head coach at Washington and Lee. He earned his 100th victory at W&L in the season-opening win against Tufts at the John K. Adams Tip-Off Classic. He now has a 108-143 (.432) record, and is the second coach in school history to reach the 100-win plateau. Last season, Hutchinson passed Harry (Cy) Young for second all-time in coaching wins at W&L. The 2008 ODAC Coach of the Year, Hutchinson led his 2009 team to the ODAC Championship game for the first time since 1989. In his 13 seasons of coaching, Hutchinson has an overall record of 141-209 (.403).

WATCH OUT FOR EY
Senior forward J.D. Ey paced the Generals last week, contributing in all facets for the team. He averaged nearly a double-double at 10.7 points per game and 9.7 rebounds per game. Ey also added 2.7 assists a game. He shot 50.0 percent from the field and totaled 12 blocks and eight steals. He set a season high and tied the ODAC season-high for blocks with five at Emory & Henry last Monday. He followed that with a career-high in steals (5) against Roanoke on Wednesday. In the victory over Guilford, he totaled nine points, 12 rebounds, three blocks, two steals and two assists. Ey leads the ODAC in rebounds per game (8.8) and blocks per game (2.4). Ey is also tied for eighth in steals per game (1.6).

THE CENTURION
Not only is J.D. Ey having a productive season, but he is also approaching his 100th game played as a General. He enters the week with 98 games played (90 starts), and should play his 100th contest at home against Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday. In his 98 games, he has totaled 920 points, 738 rebounds, 153 blocks, 125 steals and 209 assists. He is third all-time in blocks (one away from second), with Rob Smitherman '81 holding the all-time record with 190. Ey is the only player in W&L history with at least 900 points, 700 rebounds, 200 assists, 150 blocks and 100 steals.

McDONALD FROM DOWNTOWN
Sophomore guard Javon McDonald drilled seven three-pointers (7-of-9) and scored 21 points in the victory over 22nd-ranked Guilford, which tied a W&L record. He became the seventh player in program history to make seven triples in a game, with Mike Stuart '05 achieving it most recently at Lynchburg in 2004. It was his second 20-point game this season, and he has been the team's leading scorer in eight of W&L's 17 games. He is averaging 12.8 points per game, and is leading the ODAC in three-point percentage. He connects on 47.4 percent (36-76) from long range with junior guard Mike Ehilegbu of Randolph in second at 46.3 percent (31-67).

FANTASTIC FIRST-YEARS
In the victory at Emory & Henry last Monday, it was two first-year players who did a majority of the damage for W&L. Guard Darren Douglas and forward Andrew Franz combined for 38 of the team's 78 points. Franz netted a career-high 18 points on 7-of-14 (50.0 percent) from the field and 2-of-5 (40.0 percent) from long distance. He also grabbed three rebounds and had one assist. Douglas also set a new career high with 19 points. He shot 8-of-12 (66.7 percent) from the field and 3-of-6 (50.0 percent) from behind the three-point arc. Douglas also collected four rebounds, two steals and an assist.

AT THE BREAK
Put this under the fun with numbers category, but the Generals are a perfect 9-0 when leading at halftime. On the flip side, W&L has yet to win a game when trailing at intermission with a record of 0-8.

INTERVIEW WITH COACH HUTCHINSON
Following each game, coach Adam Hutchinson takes a minute to answer some questions about his team's performance. The interview is normally up 20 minutes after the game and can be found at http://www.youtube.com/user/wlusports. All archived interviews can be found there as well.