LEXINGTON, Va. — The seventh-seeded Washington and Lee men's basketball team ended the game on a 24-8 run on its way to a 74-56 victory over 10th-seeded Roanoke on Monday at the Warner Center in the first round of the ODAC Tournament.

The Generals (11-15) trailed 19-18 with 9:15 left in the opening half, but two free throws by first-year forward Clayton Murtha (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park) started a 12-2 spurt to give W&L a 30-21 lead with 6:21 remaining in the half. The teams would trade baskets in the final six minutes, with the Blue and White holding a 10-point advantage (36-26) at intermission.

The Maroons (10-15) came out hot in the start of the second stanza, hitting four of their first six shots, to trim the deficit to 40-36 at the 16:19 mark. The teams each went on mini runs over the next eight minutes, and a jumper by senior forward Daniel Eacho (North Chesterfield, Va./Monacan) with 8:18 on the clock brought Roanoke to within two, 50-48.

Sophomore point guard Andy Kleinlein (Chesterfield, Mo./Chaminade College Prep) responded with a layup, which ignited an 8-0 run for W&L to push the lead back to double-digits (58-48) with 6:14 remaining in the contest. The Maroons scored four straight points on two free throws by Eacho and a layup by senior guard Julian Ramirez (Pallmyra, Va./Fork Union) to cut the lead to 58-52 with 5:30 left in the game, but W&L outscored Roanoke, 16-4, over the final five minutes to reach the final margin.

Murtha registered 27 points on 8-of-14 from the floor and 11-of-11 from the foul line. He has now made 168-of-213 (78.9 percent) free throws on the season, which is tied for the third most in program history. Dom Flora also made 168 during the 1957-58 season.

Junior forward Andrew Franz (Charlotte, N.C./Ravenscroft) had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, and senior forward Patrick O'Connor (Richmond, Va./Douglas Freeman) also had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. He added five assists as well. Kleinlein went 5-of-6 from beyond the arc on his way to tying a career-high with 19 points.

Eacho led the Maroons with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while senior forward Andrew Daniels (Fairfax, Va./Oakton) added 12 points.

With the victory, the Generals advance to the quarterfinals of the ODAC Tournament and will play second-seeded Virginia Wesleyan on Thursday at 6:00 pm at the Salem Civic Center.

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