LEXINGTON, Va. — Senior forward Clayton Murtha (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park) totaled 23 points and 13 rebounds to push the Washington and Lee men's basketball team past Randolph, 76-73, on Thursday at the Warner Center.

The Generals (11-5, 6-1 ODAC) held an eight-point lead (66-58) with 6:22 left in the second half, but the WildCats (4-12, 1-6) went on an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to knot the score, 66-66, at the 4:18 mark.

Junior guard Devin Kearns (Cibolo, Texas/Samuel Clemens) was fouled on the ensuing trip down the court and converted both free throws to push the W&L lead to 68-66. Following a couple of empty possessions, first-year guard William Brueggeman (Houston, Texas/Strake Jesuit College Prep) laid in a fast-break bucket with 2:49 on the clock to extend the Blue and White advantage to four (70-66).

Senior guard Ryan Fields then drained a jumper in the paint to bring Randolph to within two, 70-68, but Kearns answered with two free throws to regain a four-point spread (72-68) for the Generals with 1:54 remaining in the contest.

After a steal by Kearns, Murtha registered a put-back layup to put W&L in front, 74-68, at the 1:37 mark. The WildCats quickly pushed the ball up the floor, and junior guard Sammy Hooper drained a triple to cut the lead to three (74-71) with 1:31 left in the game.

The Blue and White worked the clock on its next trip down, but junior forward Roy McMillan's (Raleigh, N.C./Broughton) shot missed the target. Murtha corralled the rebound, but even with another 30 seconds the Generals failed to score and gave the ball to Randolph with 35 seconds on the clock.

Fields then drove to the paint, but pressure by McMillan forced the ball out of bounds off Fields with 18.3 seconds remaining in the game. Hooper stole the in-bounds pass for the WildCats, and registered a layup with 14 seconds to go to close the gap to 74-73. The Blue and White broke a Randolph press, and then Brueggeman was fouled with 6.3 on the clock.

The first year calmly walked to the free throw line and sunk both to give W&L a 76-73 edge. After a couple of fouls by the Generals, sophomore guard Brian Smith's game tying three-point attempt from directly in front of the WildCats' bench hit back iron as time expired, and W&L walked away with the victory.

Murtha went 10-of-16 from the field to tally his game-high 23 points. McMillan registered a double-double with 13 points, a career-high 14 rebounds and a career-best four blocks. Kearns added 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Fields and first-year forward Elijah Ford each recorded 14 points to pace Randolph, while Hooper had 12 points and six rebounds.

W&L shot 43.1 percent (31-of-72) from the field, but just 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from long range and 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from the foul line. The Generals did convert their last six attempts from the charity stripe, which was crucial for the win.

Randolph was 27-of-70 (38.6 percent) from the floor, 5-of-16 (31.3 percent) from long range and 14-of-16 (87.5 percent) from the foul line.

The Generals return to action on Saturday, when they play at Hampden-Sydney at 2:00 pm.

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