LEXINGTON, Va. — First-year forward Clayton Murtha (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park) scored a career-high 22 points on 7-of-7 from the field, but the Washington and Lee men's basketball team lost to Averett, 69-62, at the Warner Center on Wednesday.

The Generals (2-7) fell behind early in the first half, as the Cougars (4-2) took a 22-13 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game. Murtha responded with baskets on back-to-back possessions to trim the margin to five (22-17).

Averett extended the lead back to eight, 26-18, but six straight points from Murtha dropped the advantage to two (26-24). W&L would tie the game, 30-30, with 1:46 left in the half on a triple by first-year guard Nicholas George (Charleston, W. Va./Charleston Catholic), but Averett regained a small lead, 32-31, heading into halftime.

The Cougars stretched their lead to 10 (41-31) in the first three minutes of the second half by scoring the first nine points out of the break. W&L countered with a 13-5 run over the next three minutes, capped on a layup by first-year guard Michael Hegar (Cary, N.C./GRACE Christian), to cut the deficit to 46-44 with 14:29 left in the game.

The teams went back-and-forth over the next 10 minutes of the game with the Cougars holding a six-point lead with 3:31 remaining on the clock. A triple by sophomore guard Andy Kleinlein (Chesterfield, Mo./Chaminade College Prep) trimmed the lead to three, 58-55, but Averett responded with a layup by junior guard Bradley Robinson (Baltimore, Md./Mallard Creek).

A jumper by first-year forward Joe Sherwood (Madison, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) again brought W&L within three, but junior center Carter Jones (Mooresville, N.C./Lake Norman) answered with a jumper (62-57) of his own with 1:49 left. Neither team scored over the next minute, until two free throws by Murtha closed the gap to three, 62-59, with 45 seconds remaining. The Generals started fouling to extend the game, but the Cougars hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final 41 seconds to reach the final margin.

Murtha's 22 points come after scoring 19 in the Generals' previous contest. Against Averett, he also had seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Sherwood was the only other W&L player in double figures with a career-high 12 points. Junior Andrew Franz (Charlotte, N.C./Ravenscroft) grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and dished out five assists.

The Generals committed 18 turnovers in the contest, which led to 18 points for the Cougars. W&L shot 46.0 percent (23-of-50) from the field, but again struggled from the charity stripe, hitting 11-of-18 (61.1 percent).

Senior forward Cody Stephens (Aiken, S.C./South Aiken) finished the night 8-of-13 from the floor en route to 21 points. He also had four rebounds and three blocks. Jones and Robison each added 12 points.

Averett connected on 27-of-56 shots (48.2 percent) and hit 7-of-17 (41.2 percent) from behind the arc.

The Generals will take 18 days off for finals and the holiday break before returning to the Warner Center to host the W&L Tournament on December 29 and 30. W&L will play Elmira on the first day at 2:00 pm.

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