SEWANEE, Tenn. — Sewanee shot 55.7 percent (34-of-61) from the field and had three players register at least 20 points, as the Tigers defeated the Washington and Lee men's basketball team, 96-79, on Saturday at Juhan Gymnsasium in the season-opener for W&L.

The Tigers (1-1) held a slim one-point edge, 27-26, with 8:16 left in the first half, but then went on a 14-2 run to push the lead to double digits (41-28) by the 2:41 mark. Sewanee maintained a margin of at least 10 points the rest of the half, and took a 48-34 advantage into the break.

The teams traded baskets for the first seven minutes of the second half, but then a 7-0 run by the Tigers pushed the lead to 16 (67-51) with 11:28 left in the game. Following a Generals' (0-1) timeout, W&L answered with a 14-5 run to trim the deficit to seven, 72-65, with 7:37 remaining in the contest.  

Junior forward Roy McMillan (Raleigh, N.C./Broughton) ignited the burst by draining a triple, one of his career-high six in the game. Senior forward Clayton Murtha (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park) then completed an old-fashioned three-point play to pull W&L to within 10, 67-57, with 10:02 remaining in the game.

After a couple of empty possessions by each team, Murtha sunk a pair of free throws, but Sewanee responded with four straight points. McMillan and sophomore guard Trey Lewis (Houston, Texas/St. John's School) then sandwiched a pair of three-pointers around a free throw by the Tigers to complete the run.

After back-to-back offensive fouls by the Blue and White, junior guard Matt Lee extended the Sewanee lead back to 10, 75-65, with a three at the 6:33 mark. Following a missed W&L jumper, junior guard Hunter Buescher canned a jumper, and then Lee made another triple to push the Tigers' advantage to 15 (80-65) with 5:14 remaining in the game. Sewanee held at least a 12-point margin the rest of the way en route to its 17-point victory.

McMillan led the Generals with a career-high 22 points on 6-of-8 from long range. He also added six rebounds. Murtha registered a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Devin Kearns (Cibolo, Texas/Samuel Clemens) had 19 points and four assists.

Sophomore guard Adrian Thomas scored 26 points on 12-of-16 from the floor to pace Sewanee. He also had nine rebounds and three steals. Lee finished with 21 points on 5-of-10 from beyond the arc, and Buescher notched 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

The Blue and White shot 43.3 percent (29-of-67) from the field and connected on 8-of-20 (40.0 percent) from the three-point line. W&L shot 65.0 percent (13-of-20) from the foul line. Along with the 55.7 clip from the floor, the Tigers also made 21-of-24 (87.5 percent) from the free throw line, and were 7-of-20 (35.0 percent) from long range.

The Generals finish their play at the Lon Varnell Classic on Sunday, when they play Oglethorpe in a neutral-site game at Sewanee at 1:00 pm Central Standard Time (2:00 pm EST).

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