LEXINGTON, Va. — The W&L men's basketball team broke the school record for three-pointers in a game, and junior forward William Brueggeman (Houston, Texas/Strake Jesuit College Prep) and senior guard Kevin Dennin (Severna Park, Md./Severn School) combined for 45 points, as the Generals defeated Guilford, 90-61, on Saturday at the Duchossois Tennis Center.
 
The Blue and White (16-4, 8-3 ODAC) made its first seven shots from the field, but the Quakers (14-6, 6-5) kept pace through the first five minutes, as the contest was tied, 19-19, with 14:40 to go in the opening half. W&L broke the game open over the next four minutes, outscoring Guilford, 11-0.
 
To start the run, junior forward Curtis Mitchell (Chevy Chase, Md./Georgetown Prep) converted a tip-in off a rare Generals' miss. Dennin followed with a jumper in the paint and then senior forward Mark Croughan (Rye, N.Y./Rye) scored off a turnaround to push the lead to 25-19 at the 12:18 mark. First-year guard Sam Wise (Winchester, Va./John Handley) then drove to the hoop for a bucket, and Dennin capped the spurt with a triple to extend the margin to 30-19 with 10:46 left in the period.
 
The Generals kept the pressure on Guilford the rest of the half and took a 15-point spread (48-33) into the break. W&L stretched the lead to 23, 58-35, early in the second on a three-pointer by Brueggeman, but the Quakers responded, cutting the margin to 58-44 with 12:14 to go in the contest.
 
The Blue and White stopped the Guilford run with another barrage of shots from long range. Dennin drilled a three off an assist from sophomore guard Mark Lamendola (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon), and then first-year guard Richie Manigault (Stewartsville, N.J./Phillipsburg) followed with a triple to push the lead back to 20 (64-44) at the 11:14 mark.
 
Back-to-back layups by Brueggeman and Mitchell and then a pair of free throws by Brueggeman gave W&L a 70-44 lead and effectively put the game away. Sophomore guard Tevin Panchal (Belmont, Calif./Spire Academy) netted a three-pointer with 27 seconds left in the game to register the new three-point record and set the final margin of 90-61.
 
W&L finished 19-of-33 (57.6 percent) from beyond arc to set the new school mark. The team had previously made 18 in a game twice, most recently on Wednesday at Emory & Henry. The 37 triples over the last two games are the most in a two-game span in program history. The 57.6 percent is the highest single-game percentage for a Blue and White squad since the team made 57.9 percent (11-of-19) at Virginia Wesleyan on February 13, 2016.
 
Brueggeman and Dennin each made five shots from distance. Bruggeman had a game-high 26 points on 7-of-13 from the floor and 5-of-10 from long range. He also had three rebounds and went 7-of-8 from the foul line. Dennin was 6-of-11 from the field and 5-of-8 from distance for 19 points.
 
With the five three's, Brueggeman is now tied for sixth on the W&L single-season triples list with 60 and is fifth on the career list with 144. Dennin moved into a tie for 10th on the single-season three's list with 53 and is sixth on career list with 143.
 
Along with shooting a season-best from beyond the arc, the Generals also shot a season-high 53.4 percent (31-of-58) from the field. The Blue and White was 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) from the foul line.
 
The Quakers shot just 33.3 percent (23-of-69) from the floor and 38.5 percent (10-of-26) from beyond the arc.
 
Mitchell recorded nine points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Lamendola notched eight points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals.
 
Sophomore guard Jorden Davis led Guilford with 16 points and three steals. First-year guard Tyler Dearman came off the bench to total 13 points and four rebounds.
 
The Generals return to action on Wednesday, when they play at Shenandoah at 7:00 pm.