LEXINGTON, Va. — Sophomore forward Clayton Murtha (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park), junior guard Andy Kleinlein (Chesterfield, Mo./Chaminade College Prep) and first-year forward Roy McMillan (Raleigh, N.C./Broughton) combined for 61 points to lead the Washington and Lee men's basketball team to an 89-86 season-opening victory over Berry on Sunday at the Warner Center.

After the two teams traded baskets for most of the first half, the Generals (1-0) opened up a double-digit lead (33-23) with 4:40 left until intermission. W&L stretched the advantage to 15 points, 46-31, with 1:43 on the clock, but the Vikings (0-1) closed the stanza on a 5-1 run to trim the deficit to 11 (47-36) at the break.

W&L held a 54-46 lead with 15:43 remaining in the second half, but Berry scored seven straights points to close to within one (54-53) with 13:52 on the clock. The Generals then regained a six-point lead, 59-53, off of five straight points by Kleinlein.

The Blue and White pushed the margin to eight, 63-55, on a layup by Murtha with 11:45 remaining, but Berry netted nine of the next 14 points, capped on a triple by first-year guard Blake Schurrman (Charlotte, N.C./Davidson Day), to pull within one (65-64). Berry tied the game for the first time in the second half, 72-72, on a jumper by sophomore forward Caleb Johnson (Alabaster, Ala./Thompson) with 5:13 on the clock.

The Generals scored the next seven points on a layup and three-pointer by McMillan and then a layup by Murtha to take a 79-72 lead with 3:30 left in the contest. W&L held a seven-point advantage (86-79) with 54 ticks remaining, but two layups by Kahlil Newkirk sandwiched around a triple by Johnson trimmed the lead to one, 87-86, with 10 seconds on the clock.

Kleinlein sunk two free throws to push the lead to 89-86, and then Johnson's three-point attempt with three seconds on the clock fell short to reach the final margin.

Murtha registered a double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds. He shot 10-of-14 from the field and dished out two assists. McMillan came off the bench for W&L to net 19 points on 7-of-14 from the floor. He also canned 4-of-7 triples and had three assists.

Kleinlein totaled 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. He finished the game 11-of-12 from the charity stripe. Senior forward Andrew Franz (Charlotte, N.C./Ravenscroft) did a little bit of everything for the Blue and White, recording four points, nine rebounds and six assists.

The Generals held a 46-23 advantage in rebounds, including a 17-2 edge on the offensive glass. There were 65 fouls called between the two teams, as W&L went 28-of-42 (66.7 percent) from the foul line and Berry was 29-of-41 (70.7 percent). 

Johnson finished the game with 26 points and six steals, and Scherrman recorded 22 points on 12-of-12 from the foul line for Berry.

The Generals return to action on Tuesday, when they play at Christopher Newport at 7:30 pm.

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