DANVILLE, Va. – Junior
Robert DiSibio (Sandy Hook, Conn. / Newtown) scored 21 points and senior
Richie Manigault (Stewartsville, N.J. / Phillipsburg) dropped a career-high 27 to propel the Washington and Lee men's basketball team to an 84-65 road ODAC win against Averett on Saturday.
The opening 10 and a half minutes of the first half was an offensive blitzkrieg from the Generals (9-6, 2-4 ODAC), as the team built a 36-10 lead. Manigault scored five of the team's nine points during an opening 9-2 run, before the Cougars (6-9, 2-4 ODAC) kept the game within two scores across the next two minutes.
Senior
Jack Lewis (Rockville, Md. / Sidwell Friends) then sank a layup to kickstart a 22-2 W&L run, ending in a 15-0 stretch for the Blue and White. Manigault heated up more during the run, scoring 12 points and hitting all three shot attempts from beyond the arc. W&L went into the halftime break ahead by a score of 45-16, led by 19 from Manigault.
Manigault then opened the second-half scoring with another triple to give the Generals their largest lead of the game (32). From 18:53 to 12:00 remaining in the game, the Cougars inched their way closer, using a 20-15 scoring advantage, before going on to score 12 straight points as part of an overall 17-2 run to cut the W&L lead to 65-53 with six and half minutes to play.
DiSibio and junior
Drew Harrell (Collingswood, N.J. / Paul VI) halted the Averett run by scoring four points, followed by a 10-2 W&L run to ice the game into the win column.
Manigault's career-high 27 came on 10-of-13 shooting from the field and 7-of-9 from deep, with the seven makes from three-point range also marking a career high. Manigault added 10 rebounds to his line for his third career double-double. DiSibio helped W&L's closing efforts, as he poured in 16 of his 21 points for the game in the second half. DiSibio shot 5-for-9 from the floor and made 10-of-12 foul shots, while notching four rebounds and four assists.
Senior
Jack d'Entremont (Bryn Mawr, Pa. / Radnor) tallied 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting in addition to six rebounds. Harrell finished with 10 points, six rebounds and two high-flying blocked shots, with both coming in the second half.
The Cougars were led on offense by Jordan Lewis, who notched 19 points and four assists, followed by a 15-point outing from Jalen Rowell, who shot 5-of-11 from the floor. Jason Sellers II rounded out the game's double-digit scorers with 12 points, as he made six of his seven shots.
W&L set new season highs in both field goal percentage (.620) and three-point field goal percentage (.476) in the game. The 62.0 percent (31-50) from the field is the highest since a mark of 66.1 percent in a 101-73 win over William Peace on November 13, 2021, while the 47.6 percent (10-21) from deep is the highest since a 77-57 win over Roanoke on January 15, 2022.
The Generals will return to the court on Wednesday when they host Shenandoah in a 7:30 pm in Holekamp Gym.
