EMORY, Va. – Ninth-seeded Washington and Lee shot 59.0 percent (23-39) from the floor in defeating eighth-seeded Emory & Henry, 67-50, in the first round of the ODAC Men's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday evening at the King Center.

The first half was tightly contested, featuring four ties with neither team leading by more than five points.  E&H (12-14) first-year guard Damian Edwards tied the game at 23-23 with a three-pointer at the 3:13 mark, but the Generals (13-13) closed with five straight points on a jumper by sophomore forward Larry Whitaker (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) and a three-pointer by first-year guard Javon McDonald (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) for a 28-23 halftime advantage.  McDonald canned four three-pointers en route to scoring 14 points in the first half.

Six early points by sophomore center Drew Kimberly (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) helped the Generals' lead grow to 10 points (38-28) at the 15:42 mark, but an 8-3 Wasp run sliced the W&L advantage back to 41-36 with 12:27 remaining.  The Generals' lead remained single digits until an 8-0 run increased the W&L advantage to 56-42 with 6:23 to play.  Back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore guard Kevin Gill (Richmond, Va./Benedictine) and junior guard Jeremy Adkins (Huntington, W. Va./Spring Valley), coupled with a layup by junior forward J.D. Ey (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park), keyed the decisive run.  E&H would get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way as the Generals defeated the Wasps for the second time this season.

McDonald led W&L with 18 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.  Adkins totaled 11 points on 3-of-3 shooting, while Whitaker and Gill tallied 10 points each.  Whitaker added seven rebounds, and Ey posted nine points, seven boards and five assists.

Junior forward Armando Murrell scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to lead the Wasps.  Edwards chipped in 14 points and five boards.

Washington and Lee advances to the quarterfinals of the ODAC Tournament on Friday at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va.  The Generals will take on top-seeded Virginia Wesleyan at 1:00 pm.

-- GENERALS --