GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Senior
Drew Harrell drained a corner three-point shot with 3.8 seconds remaining to propel the Washington and Lee men's basketball team to a 71-68 win in the Gettysburg Tip-Off Tournament championship game on Saturday.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
With the game tied at 68 late in the fourth, the Fighting Muskies (1-1) looked to take the lead on offense, but sophomore
John Loughlin drew a charge in the lane to get the ball back into the Generals' (2-0) hands. On the ensuing possession, senior
Robert DiSibio drove to the middle, but kicked the ball back out to senior
Jack d'Entremont, who found Harrell alone in the right corner for the go-ahead triple.
The Muskies had one final chance to send the game to overtime, but d'Entremont leaped and stole the inbounds pass to end the game.
The game favored Muskingum early on, as the Muskies opened up a slight 11-7 lead across the opening five minutes of play. W&L then seized the first big scoring run of the game with a 15-2 stretch, led by sophomore
Colin Ryan with seven points, as the team assumed a 22-13 lead. The Muskies responded soon after with an overall run of 17-5, which included 13 straight at one point, to get back out in front by three points before going into halftime up, 32-31.
In the second half, Muskingum began with a 13-7 run to increase their lead to seven points with 17:10 left. The Blue and White regained control, however, with a 17-4 run, which included 10 from DiSibio to jump back out to a 55-49 advantage. Both teams battled over the next five minutes before an 8-0 run put the Muskies back in front, 64-63 with 3:44 left to play. Four more points from DiSibio, a free throw from Ryan and four points from the Muskies put the game at 68-all ahead of the final sequences.
TOP PERFOMERS:
DiSibio finished the day with a team-high 33 points on 12-of-26 shooting. He connected on 3-of-7 from long range, 6-of-8 from the foul line and added seven rebounds and four assists. Ryan notched 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting with three rebounds, while d'Entremont came in with eight points and seven boards. Harrell tallied five points and six rebounds, and he blocked a career-high four shots.
The Muskies were led by a game-high 36 points on 14-of-23 shooting, which included 6-of-11 from three-point range. Luken Hill came in next with 11 points on 5-of-7 overall and six rebounds, while Kaelen Pulliam pulled down six boards and blocked seven shots.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Following the conclusion of the game, d'Entremont and DiSibio were both named to the All-Gettysburg Tip-Off Tournament Team, with DiSibio adding MVP honors for the weekend. DiSibio averaged 24.0 points on 44.7 percent shooting across the two games, with added averages of 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
With his 33 points, DiSibio moved up two spots on the program's all-time points list. DiSibio has now scored 1,131 points, which moved him past both Bob Spessard '38 (1,120) and Andy Kleinlein '17 (1,124) for 22nd place. Next up on the list is Mike Holton '91 at 1,171 points.
Additionally, DiSibio moved into the program's career Top 10 for made three-point field goals, tying with Kevin Gill '14 and Mike Stuart '05 for eighth place.
TEAM STATS:
W&L shot 46.7 percent (28-60) overall and made 41.2 percent (7-17) of its three-point shots, while holding the Muskies to 38.5 percent (25-65) from the floor and 35.7 percent (10-28) from deep. The Blue and White also won the rebounding battle at 43-34, as well as the points in the paint (36-26) and second-chance points (16-8) margins.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will have their first conference test of the season in their next game, as they travel to Bridgewater on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.
Nestled in the mountains of Virginia, Washington and Lee University is a proud member of NCAA Division III and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Founded in 1749, W&L is the ninth-oldest college in the United States and a top-ranked liberal arts university. With over 500 student-athletes in 24 varsity sports, the Generals have celebrated over 265 conference championships. Learn more about the Blue and White by visiting www.generalssports.com or on social media at @WLUGenerals.
