LEXINGTON, Va. — Sophomore guard Mark Lamendola (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) converted an old-fashioned three-point play and blocked two shots in the final 30 seconds of the game, and junior forward William Brueggeman (Houston, Texas/Strake Jesuit College Prep) scored 28 points, tying the school single-game record for three-pointers, to lead the Washington and Lee men's basketball team to a 70-64 victory over Roanoke on Wednesday at the Duchossois Tennis Center.
 
The Generals (13-4, 5-3 ODAC) held a 40-28 lead over the Maroons (11-6, 5-3 ODAC) at halftime, but Roanoke fought back and cut the deficit to three (58-55) with 3:59 left in the game.
 
One the next possession, Lamendola passed to junior forward Curtis Mitchell (Chevy Chase, Md./Georgetown Prep) for a layup to extend the margin back to five, 60-55, at the 3:40 mark, but first-year forward Ethan Rowan answered with a bucket to put the score at 60-57 with 2:44 on the clock.
 
First-year guard Sam Wise (Winchester, Va./John Handley) then scored on a driving layup, but following a W&L timeout, senior guard Caleb Jordan buried a jumper from the left elbow to trim the lead back to three (62-59) with 2:11 left in the game.
 
The Blue and White worked the shot clock down on its next trip, and Brueggeman drained his record-tying seventh three-pointer of the contest from the right corner to put the team in front, 65-59, with just 1:47 remaining in the contest. The Generals' six-point edge was short lived, as junior guard Dillion Thomas answered with a triple from the right corner with 1:20 on the clock.
 
Lamendola was fouled with 58 seconds to go, but missed both from the line. Jordan was fouled on the other end with 39 seconds on the clock and sunk two from the line to bring the Maroons to within one, 65-64.
 
Receiving the ball in front of his own bench with 27 seconds remaining in the game and 19 on the shot clock, Lamendola drove to the center of the paint and dropped in a layup, while picking up a foul, to stretch the W&L lead to 67-64 with 22.6 left in the contest. He then drained the free throw to push the lead to four and forced a Roanoke timeout.
 
Out of the break, Jordan took the ball from the top of the key and drove to the right. He fought up a layup with 10 seconds to go, but Lamendola blocked the shot and the Generals secured the rebound. Senior guard Kevin Dennin (Severna Park, Md./Severn School) was quickly fouled and drained both from the line (70-64), and then Lamendola blocked a last-second three-point attempt by the Maroons to give the Blue and White the win.
 
Brueggeman notched 28 points on 8-of-17 from the floor and 7-of-13 from beyond the arc. He scored 16 points in the opening 20 minutes, and buried five of his three-pointers in the first. He is the eighth player (9 times total) in program history to make seven three-pointers in a game, joining Dennin who accomplished the feat earlier this season at Trinity (Texas) on December 17.
 
Lamendola finished the night with 12 points, four assists and three blocks, while Dennin had 10 points and five rebounds. Mitchell totaled seven points, six boards and three blocks.
 
Jordan led Roanoke with 20 points, while first-year guard Efosa Edosomwan registered 15 points and six rebounds off the bench.
 
The Maroons shot 50.0 percent (26-of-52) from the field, but just 22.2 percent (2-of-9) from long range. Roanoke also struggled from the line at 10-of-20 (50.0 percent). W&L made 23-of-50 (46.0 percent) from the floor and 13-of-24 (54.2 percent) from beyond the arc.
 
The Generals return to action on Saturday at Lynchburg at 2:00 pm.