SALEM, Va. - The Washington and Lee University men's basketball team earned the fifth seed in the 2023 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Basketball Championships after posting an 11-5 conference record and are set to take on fourth-seeded Roanoke on Friday afternoon. 

The Generals finished the regular season on a three game winning streak and an overall record of 18-7 and will take on the Maroons (19-6, 12-4 ODAC) at 3 p.m. on Friday, February 24 at the Salem Civic Center. 

The two teams previously met on December 7, 2022, the last home contest before winter break. The regular season matchup was a 79-73 bout that ended in favor of the visiting Maroons. During the 2022 ODAC tournament, W&L and RC met in the quarterfinals -  Noke advanced with an 82-69 victory before falling to eventual NCAA Champions, Randolph-Macon, in the semifinals 75-58. 

GENERALS TO WATCH

The squad is familiar with post-season play as they have qualified for the ODAC tournament both of the seasons that a full conference slate was completed (W&L opted out of the 2020-21 tournament) but have not advanced past quarterfinal round. The 2022-23 Generals are led by All-ODAC selections junior forward, Robert DiSibio (Sandy Hook, Conn. / Newtown) and senior point guard Sam Wise (Winchester, Va. / Handley). 

DiSibio gathered a First Team selection after he led the league in scoring this year. The program's newest member of the 1,000 point club averages 21.9 points per game with 548 points in 789 minutes through 25 contests. DiSibio is shooting 48.9 percent from the field, 39.3 percent from beyond the arc and 84 percent from the free throw line. 

His 172 field goals is second most in the ODAC and is a top-15 performer in defensive rebounds, total rebounds, rebounds per game and assist categories. His season-high is 39 points against Mary Baldwin and he drained five threes in the upset over then-sixteenth-ranked Hampden-Sydney during the regular season finale. 

The Generals' point guard, Wise, earned a Third Team All-ODAC honor, the first of his career, for his ability to orchestrate the Blue and White's fast-paced offense. In 31.3 minutes per game, Wise has the 13th best shooting percentage in the ODAC (48.2 percent), averages 6 rebounds per game and has tallied 108 assists, good for the league's fourth most. Defensively, he ranks fourth in steals with 45 and recorded nine blocks. 

His season-high points came at Ferrum where he tallied 18. In the first matchup with Roanoke, Wise drained four 3-pointers on 11 attempts and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds at Southern Virginia. His best career performance came against Roanoke during the tournament last year, he scored a career-high 30 points in the Civic Center. 

Junior Jack d'Entremont (Bryn Mawr, Pa. / Radnor) is leading the Blue and White in rebounds with 44 on the offensive side (11th in the ODAC) and 139 defensively (4th in the ODAC) for a league's sixth-best 183 total, an average of 7.3 per game. Defensively, he and Drew Harrell (Collingswood, N.J. / Paul VI) lead the team in blocks with 15 each. Harrell has added 29 total steals, second-most behind Wise. 

From beyond the arc, seniors Richie Manigault (Stewartsville, N.J. / Phillipsburg) and Jack Lewis (Rockville, Md. / Sidwell Friends) have 46 and 32 threes, respectively - the two are fourth and fifth in team scoring. Manigault, who averages 11 points per game, has the highest 3-point shooting percentage with 40.7 percent (6th in the league) and Lewis owns the team's third-best, 39 percent from long range. 

TOURNAMENT DETAILS 

To round out the remainder of the tournament field, nationally ranked No. 2 R-MC (16-0 ODAC) took the one seed, No. 20 Hampden-Sydney (14-2) claimed the second seed and No. 14. Guilford is the third seed (13-3). Ninth-seeded Ferrum College (5-11) upset Averett (6-10) in the first round and will match up with R-MC on the eneral's half of the tournament draw. Bridgewater (8-8) and Virginia Wesleyan (8-8) claimed the sixth and seventh seed on the other side of the bracket to take on H-SC and the Quakers. 

All ODAC Basketball Championships 2023 tournament materials including a live bracket, links to the live streams and tickets for the weekend can be found here.