LEXINGTON, Va. - The Washington and Lee University men's basketball team returned from the holiday break and opened up the 2022 W&L Holiday Tournament with a 83-70 win over Vassar College to advance to tomorrow's championship game.
The Generals (8-4) shot above 50 percent from the floor for the second time this season and used the hot-hand to take down the Brewers (5-3).
W&L and VC traded scores during the first four minutes of the contest before the Generals went on an 8-0 run to take the lead for the remainder of the afternoon.
At 17:24, a Richie Manigault (Stewartsvulle, N.J. / Phillipsburg) layup started the run. Robert DiSibio (Sandy Hook, Conn. / Newtown), Manigault, and Jack d'Entremont (Bryn Mawr, Pa. / Radnor) followed up with points in the paint and forced the Brewers to call a timeout before the 14-minute media break
The six-point cushion, 11-5 at 15:35, proved to be enough for the hosts. Vassar was able to cut the deficit down to five on seven occasions in the opening stanza but another eight straight with just a minute until halftime gave W&L a 14-point lead, 46-32. DiSibio and d'Entremont posted double-digit scorelines in the opening period with 14 and 10 total points, respectively.
VC found the basket on the last three possessions of the first half to cut the home team's lead to 46-37 at the end of the first period.
Out of the break, the Brewers continued to own the momentum shift and outscored the hosts 7-1 and dug themselves out of the 14-point hole down to just three points.
Drew Harrell (Collingswood, N.J. / Paul VI) ended the run with a driving layup followed by a DiSibio triple and a close-range jumper from d'Entremont to build the Blue and White's lead back up to double digits.
Four minutes remained as the Generals went up by 15, the largest lead of the contest, 78-65. Harrell broke up a pass on the defensive end and led DiSibio into a fast-break layup off the forced turnover.
The Blue and White scored 13 points off turnovers, and 24 fast-break points. Over half of W&L's scoring efforts, 48 points, came from inside the paint.
The Generals were 31-of-60 from the field (51.7 percent), 6-of-15 from long range (40 percent) and 15-of-23 from the line (65.2 percent).
DiSibio ended the night with a game-high 29 points with eight rebounds. D'Entremont added 14 points and Harrell grabbed six boards. Both Harrell and
Sam Wise (Winchester, Va. / Handley) dished out four assists and chipped in seven and eight points, respectively.
With the victory, W&L will take on No. 20 Mary Washington in the championship game at 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon.
