LEXINGTON, Va. — The Washington and Lee men's basketball team came back from a 19-point first-half deficit to force overtime, but eventually lost, 82-77, in the extra period to fifth-ranked Randolph-Macon on Saturday at the Warner Center.

The Yellow Jackets (19-2, 12-0 ODAC) opened up a 32-13 lead with 8:34 remaining in the first half, and headed into intermission with a 43-27 advantage. The Generals (8-13, 5-7 ODAC) cut the deficit to 10 (49-39) in the first five minutes of the second half, highlighted by three baskets by first-year forward Clayton Murtha (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park). 

Trailing by seven, 59-52, with 7:44 on the clock, W&L went on a 7-0 run, which included two free throws by Murtha, a triple by junior guard Darren Douglas (Elmsford, N.Y./Rye Country Day) and a layup by first-year forward Joe Sherwood (Madison, N.J./Seton Hall Prep), to tie the game (59-59) at the 5:36 mark.

Neither team held larger than a two-point lead the rest of the half, with R-MC clinging to a 68-66 advantage with 54 seconds remaining. Senior forward Patrick O'Connor (Richmond, Va./Douglas Freeman) was fouled with 40 ticks on the clock and made both free throws to tie the game, 68-68.

Senior forward Joe Hassell (Portsmouth, Va./Indian River) was fouled with eight seconds left, but missed both free throws and Murtha grabbed the rebound. On the Generals' ensuing possession, junior forward Andrew Franz (Charlotte, N.C./Ravenscroft) drove to the lane with four seconds left, and passed out to an open Murtha on the near baseline. Murtha's shot as time expired hit front rim and the game went to overtime.

The Yellow Jackets scored the first three points of the extra period and held a five-point lead (75-70) with 2:20 remaining in the contest. Two free throws by Murtha trimmed the margin to three, 75-52, but R-MC quickly extended the lead back to five (77-72) with 1:46 left in the game. A layup by sophomore point guard Andy Kleinlein (Chesterfield, Mo./Chaminade College Prep) eventually cut the lead to two, 78-76, with 25 ticks remaining, but the Yellow Jackets made all four of their free throws in the finals seconds to secure the victory. 

Murtha registered a career-high 31 points, while grabbing five rebounds. He finished 9-of-15 from the floor and 13-of-17 from the foul line. Franz stuffed the stat sheet with six points, six rebounds, two steals and a career-high nine assists. Kleinlein added 12 points and Sherwood totaled 10.

Hassell led R-MC with a double-double on 18 points and 11 rebounds. He also had four steals. Junior guard Lamont Moore (Waverly, Va./Tidewater Academy) scored 14 points off the bench and first-year guard Rip Engel (New Town, Pa./Life Center Academy) had 12. The win extended the Yellow Jackets win streak to 16 games.

The Generals travel to Shenandoah on Wednesday for an 8:00 pm contest.

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