SALEM, Va. — Junior forward William Brueggeman's (Houston, Texas/Strake Jesuit College Prep) potential game-winning three-pointer as time expired missed off the right iron, as the third-seeded Washington and Lee men's basketball team fell to sixth-seeded Lynchburg, 84-83, in the quarterfinals of the ODAC Tournament on Friday at the Salem Civic Center.
 
Senior forward Cody Lang put the Hornets (15-11) up by one, 81-80, with a hook shot from the left block with 1:49 to go in the contest. After a missed three by the Generals (20-6), junior forward T.C. Thacker was fouled and split a pair at the line to stretch the lead to 82-80 for Lynchburg.
 
The Generals had three chances to tie or take the lead on its next trip down, but came up empty on all three shots. Lynchburg secured the rebound with 28 seconds on the clock and was immediately fouled.
 
Junior guard Tharon Suggs made both free throws to extend the lead to 84-80. Sophomore guard Mark Lamendola (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) was fouled driving to the hoop, and sunk his first from the foul line. He missed the second, but the Blue and White grabbed the rebound and called timeout. Lamendola drove to the hoop out of the break, but came up short on his layup attempt.
 
A back tap by junior forward Curtis Mitchell (Chevy Chase, Md./Georgetown Prep) put the ball in Brueggeman's hands, and he dropped a pass back to Mitchell for a dunk with 5.1 seconds left to pull W&L to within one (84-83).
 
Lynchburg attempted a full-court pass to break the Generals' press, but Brueggeman intercepted the ball just under the Hornets' basket. He quickly dribbled down the court and pulled up from the top of the key, but his three-point attempt hit the right iron and fell to the floor, as Lynchburg walked away with the one-point win.  
 
The Hornets shot 45.8 percent (27-of-59) from the floor and 47.6 percent (10-of-21) from beyond the arc. W&L made just 29-of-73 (39.7 percent) from the field, 9-of-28 (32.1 percent) from beyond the arc and 16-of-28 (57.1 percent) from the foul line.
 
Bruggeman led the squad with 23 points and six rebounds, while senior guard Kevin Dennin (Severna Park, Md./Severn School) totaled 21 points and six rebounds. Lamendola was all over the box score with 10 points, three rebounds, six assists and two steals.
 
Bruggeman made three triples in the contest, while Dennin drained five, as each player ends the season with a school record 70 three-pointers this year.
 
Thacker registered a game-high 26 points, to go with 11 rebounds, six blocks and five assists. Senior guard Chance Greene had 24 points.
 
The Generals fell behind by as many 14 points (27-13) in the first half, but Brueggeman scored 17 of his team-high 23 points in the opening period to keep W&L to within seven (50-43) at the break.
 
In the second, the Hornets (15-11) regained a 10-point advantage, 62-52, with 15:21 left in the game, but then the Blue and White tallied 11 straight points to take its first lead of the game (63-62) at the 12:15 mark.
 
The teams went back and forth over the next eight minutes and then Dennin splashed back-to-back triples to give W&L its largest lead of the game, 80-76, at the four-minute mark. Lynchburg outscored the Generals, 8-1, in the final four minutes to seal the win.
 
With the loss, this concludes the 2020 season for the Generals. They were not in the Top 8 in the South Region in the most recent edition of the NCAA Regional Rankings, and therefore are not in position for an at-large bid.