SALEM, Va. -- Eighth-seeded Washington and Lee shot 61.1 percent
(11-18) from the floor in the second half en route to knocking off
fourth-seeded Bridgewater, 77-67, in semifinal action of the ODAC
Men's Basketball Tournament on Saturday evening at the Salem
Civic Center.
Junior forward Ben Goetsch (Timonium, Md./Gilman) scored a
career-high 19 points and the Generals (16-12) outrebounded the
league's second-best rebounding team (36-34) to become the
first-ever No. 8 seed to advance to the championship game. The
Generals' appearance in the title game will be their first
since the 1988-89 season and they will be in search of their first
ODAC title since 1980.
Despite shooting just 36.7 percent (11-30) in
the opening half, W&L connected on six three-pointers and hit
8-of-12 free throws in leading by as many as 11 points (16-5) in
the first 20 minutes en route to grabbing a 36-35 lead at the
break. An 18-7 run by the Eagles (15-12) tied the game (23-23) with
8:26 remaining, and BC stayed within six points the remainder of
the half.
Bridgewater's Robert Rice connected on a
jumper to open the second stanza and the Eagles held a slight
advantage until a jumper by senior forward Ryan Owens (Floral Park,
N.Y./Chaminade) put W&L back on top (43-42) at the 14:50 mark.
Bridgewater regained the lead (44-43) on the
next possession courtesy of a D.J. Billups jumper, but Owens
connected on a lay-up at the 12:23 mark to give W&L a 45-44
lead and the Generals would not trail the rest of the game en route
to the 10-point triumph.
Washington and Lee connected on 15-of-18
attempts from the charity stripe over the game's final 3:38
as it defeated Bridgewater for the first time in three attempts
this season.
In addition to his 19 points, Goetsch added
seven rebounds. Owens and senior guard Chris McHugh (Chatham,
N.J./Chatham) scored 11 points apiece, while junior forward Zac
White (Baltimore, Md./Park School) added 10 points. Senior guard
Isaiah Goodman (Richfield, Minn./Holy Angels) chipped in nine
points and a career-high nine rebounds, as well as a career-high
five assists.
Dominic Trawick led Bridgewater with 18
points, while Justin Reavis scored 15 points and collected nine
rebounds. Rice chipped in 12 points for the Eagles.
Washington and Lee returns to action on Sunday
when it takes on No. 7 Virginia Wesleyan game at 3:30 pm at the
Salem Civic Center.
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GENERALS --
