LEXINGTON, Va. -- The Washington and Lee men's basketball team ended a string of 43-consecutive losses to Randolph-Macon by downing the Yellow Jackets, 77-75, in overtime on Saturday afternoon at the Warner Center.
The Generals' losing streak to Randolph-Macon dated back to a 75-73 W&L win on Feb. 9, 1977.
W&L senior forward Greg Bienemann (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) broke a 75-75 tie when he rebounded a miss by junior guard Chris McHugh (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) and hit the go-ahead layup with two seconds remaining in overtime.
The Generals (2-3, 1-0) forced 16 first-half turnovers by the Yellow Jackets (1-2, 0-1) en route to a 40-28 lead at the break. W&L extended to a 17-point lead (54-37) with 14:53 remaining in regulation, but R-MC used a 23-5 run over the next 10:05 to assume a 60-59 lead with 4:48 left in the second half. The lead changed hands five times from that point until Macon junior guard Justin Short (Chesterfield, Va./Manchester) tied the game on a jumper with 1:06 left in regulation. The Yellow Jackets had two layup opportunities to win the game in the final five seconds of regulation, but both came up short.
Randolph-Macon opened a four-point lead (73-69) with 2:41 left in overtime, but the Generals knotted the game at 75-75 on a pair of free throws by McHugh with 1:23 remaining and Bienemann capped the scoring with his game-winner.
Bienemann tied his career-high with 33 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the floor and 9-of-10 shooting from the foul line. He also tallied a season-high 11 rebounds. Junior forward Kirk Jones (Maple Glenn, Pa./Germantown Academy) added a season-high 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from behind the arc.
Short paced the Yellow Jackets with 26 points. Freshman guard Jordan Brown (Chesterfield, Va./L.C. Byrd) notched 13 points, all scored in the second half. Junior guard David Carlson (Woodbridge, Va./Flint Hill) chipped in four points and 11 rebounds.
Washington and Lee returns to action on Sunday as it hosts fifth-ranked Virginia Wesleyan for a 2:00 pm contest.
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