SALEM, Va. — The seventh-seeded Washington and Lee men's basketball team went almost six minutes without scoring at the end of the first half, as seconded-seeded Virginia Wesleyan earned an 81-53 victory in the quarterfinals of the ODAC Tournament at the Salem Civic Center on Thursday.

The Generals (11-16) held a 12-9 lead with 12:27 remaining in the first half, but the 10th-ranked Marlins (22-4) responded with a 7-0 run, capped on a triple by junior guard Nick Doyle, to take a 16-12 lead at the 10:36 mark.

VWC extended its advantage to 25-18 on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Khory Moore with 6:25 left in the half. On W&L's next possession, sophomore guard Andy Kleinlein (Chesterfield, Mo./Chaminade College Prep) nailed a triple, but it would mark the final field goal of the half for the Blue and White.

The Marlins scored the next 16 points to push their lead to 41-21 with 43 seconds remaining in the half. Only a pair of free throws by Kleinlein with 3.5 seconds on the clock prevented the Generals from being shut out in the final six minutes of the opening stanza. Senior guard Brevin Lyons nailed a running three-pointer as time expired to give VWC a 44-23 advantage at the break.

Virginia Wesleyan maintained at least a 20-point lead for most of the second half before reaching the final margin. Moore led the Marlins with 17 points on 6-of-11 from the field. Senior forward Cam Owens recorded 16 points, while senior guard Greg Montgomery had 14 points and eight rebounds.  

First-year forward Clayton Murtha (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park) finished with a team-high 14 points for W&L and grabbed six rebounds. Junior guard Darren Douglas (Elmsford, N.Y./Rye Country Day) added 10 points, while junior forward Andrew Franz (Charlotte, N.C./Ravenscroft) registered five points, five rebounds and three assists.

The Marlins committed only seven turnovers and shot 50.0 percent (31-of-62) from the field. Conversely, the Blue and White coughed the ball up 22 times and ended the game 16-of-42 (38.1 percent) from the floor.

The loss ends the 2014-15 season for the Generals.

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