LEXINGTON, Va. – Junior forward Clayton Murtha (Dallas, Texas / Highland Park) tallied 29 points, 12 rebounds and five assists to lead the Washington and Lee men's basketball team to an 85-76 victory over Eastern in the opening day of the W&L Holiday Tournament on Thursday afternoon at the Warner Center.

Murtha hit 10-of-13 shots from the field and went 9-of-13 from the foul line in scoring a season-high point total.  It also gives him 999 points for his career.

The two teams battled to a 30-30 tie through the first half of action and the Eagles (5-5) held a 42-39 with 16:12 to play following a three-pointer by senior guard Shaquan Turk.  However, senior guard Andy Kleinlein (Chesterfield, Mo. / Chaminade College Prep) nailed back-to-back triples immediately thereafter to spark a 10-0 run that gave W&L (3-7) a 49-42 lead with 13:54 remaining.

Eastern chipped away at the W&L lead, eventually cutting it to a 60-57 contest with 7:47 remaining following a tip-in by Turk.  Once again, the Generals had an answer, going on a 9-0 run keyed by a Kleinlein triple and a dunk from sophomore forward Roy McMillan (Raleigh, N.C. / Broughton) for a 12-point lead (69-57) with 6:13 to play.

As quickly as the Generals built a double-digit lead, it disappeared just as abruptly.  The Eagles went on a 10-0 run over the next 2:05 to tie the game at 69-69 with 4:08 left in the game.  Four-straight points from Turk began the run and he ended it with a three-point play for seven of the 10 points.

Three straight points from Murtha gave W&L a 72-69 lead with 2:52 to play and the Generals held a slim 72-71 lead with 2:43 left following a layup by Eastern senior guard Austin Carroll.  McMillan hit a layup 25 seconds later and junior forward Nicholas George (Charleston, W. Va. / Charleston Catholic) canned a three-pointer at 1:38 that gave the Blue & White a 77-71 lead.  The Generals made 6-of-8 free throws the rest of the way to hold on for the victory.

W&L finished 28-of-55 (.509) from the field and 22-of-29 (.759) from the foul line.  Most impressive was 22 team assists on 28 made baskets.  Kleinlein scored a career-best 24 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the foul line, while McMillan finished with a season-high 12 points.  Sophomore guard Devin Kearns (Cibolo, Texas / Samuel Clemens) added six points and a career-best eight assists.

Eastern shot just 39.1 percent (25-64) from the floor.  The Eagles were led by Turk's 27 points and 16 points from sophomore forward sophomore forward Austin Duncan.  Lincoln Holley added 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Washington and Lee will play in Friday's championship game at 4:00 pm against the winner of the second opening round game between St. Mary's (Md.) and William Patterson.

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