LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Washington and Lee men's basketball team won for the fourth time in the last five games, producing a 71-62 victory over Lynchburg College on Wednesday evening at Turner Gymnasium.

The Generals (14-7, 6-6) took control of the game midway through the first half when first-year guard Hans Harris (Lansing, Mich./Waverly) scored nine consecutive points to give W&L an 18-8 lead at the 10:37 mark. The Generals shot 50.0 percent (12-24) from the floor in the first half and extended their lead to as many as 13 points at 31-18 with 4:51 left, but the Hornets closed the period on an 11-4 run to make it a 35-29 game at the break.

W&L surged back out to a 10-point lead (48-38) on back-to-back buckets by senior forward Ben Goetsch (Timonium, Md./Gilman), but the Hornets (9-12, 4-8) responded with a 9-0 run over the next 3:07 to cut it to a one-point game at 48-47 with 10:13 to play. Senior forward Zac White (Baltimore, Md./Park School) stopped the LC run with a pair of foul shots at the 9:46 mark and the Generals pushed back out to a seven-point (59-52) lead on a White layup with 3:29 remaining.

Junior guard Jason Cimino (Branchburg, N.J./Immaculata) scored five points and White added four more in the final 3:29 as the Generals pulled out their ninth-straight win over Lynchburg.

W&L finished the game shooting 45.3 percent (24-53) from the floor and committed just nine turnovers for the game. However, LC posted a 45-31 advantage on the backboards, including grabbing 22 offensive rebounds. The Hornets shot just 34.8 percent (23-66) from the field and 64.7 percent (11-17) from the foul line.

Goetsch and Cimino paced W&L with 13 points each, while White scored 12 points and tied Rob Smitherman's 31-year old (1/19/79) school record with seven blocked shots. Harris and first-year guard Jeremy Adkins (Huntington, W.Va./Spring Valley) both tallied nine points, while first-year forward J.D. Ey (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park) chipped in seven points and eight rebounds.

Lynchburg was led by first-year forward Austin Chillemi, who notched 13 points and eight boards. Senior guard Steven Echols added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Washington and Lee returns to action on Saturday as it travels to Bridgewater College for a 3:00 pm contest.

-- GENERALS --