LEXINGTON, Va. — The Washington and Lee men's basketball team led by 18 points late in the second half, and then fended off a 16-1 run by Roanoke to defeat the Maroons, 71-67, on Wednesday at the Duchossois Tennis Center.

The Generals (9-4-2-2 ODAC) were up seven, 37-30, at halftime, but Roanoke (9-4, 2-2 ODAC) trimmed the lead to five (42-37) by the 16:37 mark. Over the next five minutes, the Blue and White went on a 12-0 run, capped with five straight points from senior guard Devin Kearns (Cibolo, Texas/Samuel Clemens), to extend its advantage to 54-37 with 11:49 remaining in the game.

The Maroons registered 12 of the next 20 points to cut the lead to 62-49 at the 8:58 mark, but then five consecutive points by sophomore guard William Brueggeman (Houston, Texas/Strake Jesuit College Prep) pushed the lead back to 18 (67-49) with 7:37 left in the game.

The Roanoke defense tightened over the next few minutes, and senior forward Josh Freund, while playing with four fouls, propelled the Maroons to a 13-0 spurt to bring the margin to 67-62 with 2:16 left in the game. Freund totaled eight points during the stretch.

Senior forward Roy McMillan (Raleigh, N.C./Broughton) split a pair of free throws to end the scoring drought for the Generals to give W&L a six-point edge, 68-62, with 1:33 on the clock. Freund answered with a layup, while being fouled, but missed the free throw to put the score at 68-64 with 1:20 on the clock.

Following a steal, first-year guard Nick Price split two free throws (68-65) for the Maroons, and then W&L came up empty on the offensive end to give Roanoke a chance to tie the game with 19 seconds left in the contest.

After a Maroons' timeout, a pass went through junior guard Caleb Jordan's hands in front of the Roanoke bench and out of bounds to give the Generals the ball. Kearns then made 3-of-4 free throws in the final seconds to give the Blue and White the victory.

Brueggeman led W&L with 18 points and six rebounds. McMillan totaled 13 points and 14 rebounds, and sophomore forward Curtis Mitchell (Chevy Chase, Md./Georgetown Prep) notched nine points, six rebounds and four blocks. With his four blocks, Mitchell now has 37 on the season, which is the ninth-best single-season total in program history.

Kearns finished with eight points, four rebounds and four assists. With the four helpers, Kearns moved to third on the W&L all-time list with 329. Mike Holton '91 is second with 371.

Freund led all players with 27 points, 16 rebounds and three steals, while Jordan scored 11 points off the bench.

The Generals dominated the glass, 45-31, including a 14-7 advantage on the offensive boards. W&L also blocked eight shots compared to just one for the Maroons.

The Blue and White returns to action on Saturday, when it hosts Emory & Henry at 5:00 pm.

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