LEXINGTON, Va. – Junior guard Nicholas George (Charleston, W. Va. / Charleston Catholic) hit a three-pointer at the end of regulation and Washington and Lee held Hampden-Sydney to just 3-for-16 (.188) shooting in the overtime session, as the Generals pulled out a 77-73 victory over the Tigers in ODAC men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at the Warner Center.

W&L (11-14, 7-9) trailed by six points (63-57) with just 23 seconds left in the second half after eight straight points from H-SC (10-15, 6-10). Senior guard Jevonte Reddick scored the first seven, and then sophomore forward Justin Reid split 1-of-2 free throws. The Generals had led 57-55 with 1:39 left, but Reddick hit a triple and was fouled, making the foul shot with 1:17 to go in regulation.  He then hit another from beyond the arc with 34 seconds left to turn the tables on the Blue & White.

W&L began its comeback with a three-pointer by senior guard Andy Kleinlein (Chesterfield, Mo. / Chaminade College Prep) with 19 seconds remaining that cut the Tiger lead to three points (63-60).  The Generals then forced a five second call on the ensuing inbounds pass and Kleinlein fired another three that was no good.  Sophomore forward Roy McMillan (Raleigh, N.C. / Broughton) claimed the rebound and fed Kleinlein, who forced up another triple with 10 seconds remaining and was fouled.  He hit the first two free throws, but missed the third and Hampden-Sydney senior guard Jake Duncan was fouled with eight seconds left.  Duncan hit both free throws and the Generals inbounded the ball to Kearns.  Kearns had the ball stolen by Reddick with four seconds left, but Reddick fumbled the ball away right to George, who picked it up and fired it in from beyond the arc just as time expired.

In the overtime, W&L took the lead for good with 2:58 to play on a 12-foot jumper by Kleinlein.  Sophomore guard Alex Starr (Upper Saddle River, N.J. / Northern Highlands Regional) nailed a triple to give the Generals a four-point lead (72-68) with 2:06 left and the Blue & White tightened on defense while scoring five points at the free throw line to close out the game.

The first half featured several runs by both teams.  W&L jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the opening 2:24 of the game and the Tigers responded with a 14-0 spurt, keyed by eight points from Duncan, to take a 14-10 lead at the 12:35 mark.  The Generals then went on an 11-2 run sparked by five points from junior forward Clayton Murtha (Dallas, Texas / Highland Park) to take a 21-16 lead with 5:30 left in the half. 

H-SC used a 10-3 spurt to take a 26-24 advantage on a three-pointer by Duncan with 1:14 left, but the Generals closed the half with a three-pointer from Starr and a pair of Kleinlein free throws for a 29-26 lead at the break.

A McMillan three-pointer with 18:52 left in the second half gave W&L a 32-29 lead and the Generals held a single-digit advantage all the way to the 6:56 mark when another Duncan three-pointer gave H-SC a 48-46 lead. 

The lead changed hands four times from there until Reddick's seven-point barrage that set up the frantic final minutes of regulation. 

The Generals shot 39.7 percent (23-58) from the floor, 13-of-35 (.371) frombeyond the arc and 18-of-31 (.581) from the foul line.  Murtha and Kleinlein both scored 17 points, with Murtha also grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds.  Starr contributed a career-high 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-5 from distance, while McMillan had 12 points and nine boards.  Kearns added 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Duncan paced the Tigers with 22 points on 7-of-21 shooting.  He also had nine rebounds and four assists.  First-year guard Chaise Johnson had 19 points and Reddick finished with 18 points and seven boards.

W&L will be the No. 7 seed for the ODAC Tournament and will host 10th-seeded Eastern Mennonite on Monday at 7:00 pm.

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