LEXINGTON, Va. — The Washington and Lee men's basketball team knocked down 23-of-25 (92.0 percent) free throws on its way to a 77-67 victory over Hampden-Sydney on Wednesday at the Warner Center. First-year forward Clayton Murtha (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park) led the Generals (7-11, 4-5 ODAC) with 25 points, which tied a career-high, as he made 15-of-16 from the charity stripe.

The Tigers (11-7, 4-5 ODAC) scored the first eight points of the game, and shut out W&L through the first six minutes until an old-fashioned three-point play by Murtha trimmed the deficit to 8-3 with 14:06 left in the opening half. H-SC eventually pushed its lead out to 11 (16-5) with 11:09 on the clock, but an 11-0 run by the Generals over the next three minutes tied the game at 16-16 at the 8:06 mark.

A jumper by senior forward Patrick O'Connor (Richmond, Va./Douglas Freeman) started the spurt, and then junior guard Darren Douglas (Elmsford, N.Y./Rye Country Day) hit back-to-back triples before a three-pointer by sophomore guard Andy Kleinlein (Chesterfield, Mo./Chaminade College Prep) tied the game. The Tigers eventually regained a six-point advantage, but a three by Douglas as time expired in the first half brought the Generals to within three, 31-28.

The teams went back and forth to start the second with the game tied at 50-50 with 9:52 left in the contest. Over the next five minutes, the Blue and White went on a 17-7 run to take a 10-point lead (67-57) by the 5:03 mark. Murtha led the charge with seven points, while junior forward Andrew Franz (Charlotte, N.C./Ravenscroft) netted five during the stretch. W&L would not see its lead drop below seven points the rest of the contest.

Along with Murtha's 25 points, the Generals had three other players in double figures. Kleinlein hit 5-of-8 three-pointers, while totaling 17 points. Franz notched 12 points and had a game-high five assists and four rebounds. Douglas came off the bench to record 11 points.

Sophomore guard Jake Duncan (Williamsburg, Va./NJIT) was nearly perfect for H-SC, notching a game-high 26 points on 10-of-12 from the floor. Junior guard Mike Murray (Norfolk, Va./Norfolk Christian) added 12 points and senior point guard Leon Hargrove (Raleigh, N.C./Middle Creek) registered 11.

The Generals finished at 47.8 percent (22-of-46) from the field and 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from beyond the arc. The Tigers shot 24-of-52 (46.2 percent) from the floor, 7-of-20 (35.0 percent) from long range and just 12-of-22 (54.5 percent) from the charity stripe.

W&L next plays at Bridgewater on Saturday at 4:30 pm.

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