LEXINGTON, Va. — The Washington and Lee men's basketball team overcame a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat Ferrum, 51-48, at the Warner Center on Monday night.

The Generals (9-6) shot 18.8 percent (6-of-32) in the first half, and only scored 16 points in the opening 20 minutes. The Panthers (7-8) did not play much better, but connected on 11-of-27 shots (40.7 percent) in the first stanza to grab a 23-16 lead at the break.

Ferrum made the first bucket of the second half, but the Blue and White answered with a 19-2 run over the next nine minutes to grab a 35-27 lead at the 11:40 mark. During the spurt, first-year forward Roy McMillan (Raleigh, N.C./Broughton) tallied six points and junior guard Andy Kleinlein (Chesterfield, Mo./Chaminade College Prep) and senior forward Andrew Franz (Charlotte, N.C./Ravenscroft) each netted triples.

With the Generals leading 41-37 with 8:39 on the clock, first-year forward KeAndre' Robinson (Richmond, Va./Glen Allen) and sophomore forward Josh Grimard (Purcellville, Va./Alderson Broaddus) made back-to-back layups for the Panthers to tie the game at 41-41. A layup by first-year guard Steven Jones (Roanoke, Va./William Fleming) at the 5:27 mark gave Ferrum a 43-41 advantage.

After a free throw by sophomore forward Clayton Murtha (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park), sophomore forward Nicholas George (Charleston, W. Va./Charleston Catholic) drained a three-pointer to give W&L a 45-43 lead with 3:57 left in the contest. Robinson tied the game (45-45) with a layup on the ensuing possession.

A pair of free throws by Franz gave the Generals a two-point lead, and then a layup by Murtha stretched the margin to four, 49-45, with 2:33 left in the game. Jones then hit a triple to trim the deficit to one, 49-48, with two minutes to go in the contest.

Following a turnover and a missed shot for each team on their next two possessions, McMillan was fouled with 30 seconds on the clock. He made both free throws to push the advantage to 51-48. Wilson missed a potential game-tying three with nine seconds on the clock, and the Generals dribbled out the clock to preserve the victory.

McMillan came off the bench to tally a team-high 11 points. Franz had nine points, eight rebounds and four assists. W&L shot 54.5 percent (12-of-22) in the second half, including 4-of-5 (80.0 percent) from long range.

Wilson led Ferrum with 11 points, while senior center Rashawn Speas (Winston-Salem, N.C./Pfieffer University) stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, six rebounds, seven blocks and three steals. 

The Generals return to action on Wednesday, when they host Shenandoah at 7:00 pm.

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