SALEM, Va. – Eighth-seeded Washington
and Lee battled back from a 16-point first half deficit to pull
within one point in the final minute, but could not take the lead
as seventh-seeded Virginia Wesleyan pulled out a 66-62 victory in
the championship game of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference
Tournament on Sunday afternoon.
The Generals (16-13) trailed by 13 points
(40-27) at the halftime break, but began the second stanza with a
15-6 run to make it a 46-42 game with 12:14 remaining. The Marlins
(17-12) pulled back out to a 51-42 lead with 10:04 left, but
W&L closed it to a one-point game (53-52) with 7:09 remaining.
The Generals remained within striking distance the rest of the way,
cutting it to a one-point game twice in the final minute (61-30 at
0:30 and 63-62 at 0:21), but W&L managed to shoot just 3-for-8
from the free throw line in the final 1:40.
The Generals had one last shot to tie the game
with three seconds remaining, but junior forward Ben
Goetsch's (Timonium, Md./Gilman) layup would not fall and the
Marlins held on for the victory.
For the game, W&L shot just 16-of-29
(.552) from the free throw line, but the Generals held a 37-31 edge
on the boards and committed just 12 turnovers. Virginia Wesleyan
shot 52.9 percent (27-51) from the field, including 56.7 percent
(17-30) in the first half.
Washington and Lee was led by Goetsch, who
tied a career-high with 19 points and grabbed five rebounds. Senior
guard Isaiah Goodman (Richfield, Minn./Holy Angels) tallied 11
points, while senior forward Ben Heller (Houston, Texas/Lamar)
totaled eight points and tied a career-high with 12 rebounds. Both
Goetsch and Goodman were named to the all-tournament team.
Junior guard Stephen Fields (Hampton,
Va./Hampton) led the Marlins with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting
from the field. He also dished out five assists. Sophomore forward
Quantrell Simmons (Annandale, Va./Centreville) added 14 points.
Fields was named to the all-tournament team and was joined by
senior guard Terrell Dixon (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) and
first-year guard Travis Meyers (Virginia Beach, Va./Frank W. Cox),
who was named the tournament MVP.
Virginia Wesleyan receives the ODAC's
automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Washington and Lee's 16
wins this season were the program's most since winning 20
games (20-7) in 1988-89.
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