SALEM, Va. – The Washington and Lee men's basketball team was set back by Roanoke on the road on Wednesday evening by a final score of 80-65.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Maroons (10-7, 4-5 ODAC) opened the game on a 16-4 run, but seniors
Drew Harrell and
Jack d'Entremont proceeded to connect on back-to-back threes to start an 11-2 run for the Blue and White (10-6, 4-3 ODAC) to cut their deficit back to three points at the 10:25 mark. Roanoke had a response for the first W&L run, going on another scoring streak of 16-4 over the next 2:35 to regain a 15-point advantage.
Both teams then split 18 points evenly to close the half, allowing the Maroons to go into the locker room with a 43-28 lead. Roanoke's halftime lead was aided by a 16-of-17 effort at the free throw line, compared to 6-of-7 from the Generals.
The Generals fired back to open the second half with eight straight points to cut the Roanoke lead to 43-36 at the 16:26 mark. The Maroons answered, however, with a 10-2 run to boost their lead back to 14 points, but senior
Robert DiSibio helped the Generals stay in the game with seven points over the next eight minutes.
Now leading by eight points with five minutes left, the Maroons managed to hold off the final push from the Blue and White with an 11-8 run until a minute and a half remained, followed by a bucket from Justin Kuthan and four additional free throws in the final minute.
TOP PERFORMERS:
DiSibio scored a game-high 18 points and added six rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block. d'Entremont logged 15 points (6-13 FG) and seven rebounds, while sophomore
Colin Ryan tallied 12 points, a team-high five dimes and three boards. Harrell rounded out the quartet of Generals in double figures with 11 points plus seven rebounds.
The Maroons were led by a 16-point outing from Joshua McClary, who added five rebounds and five assists to his line. Gavin O'Malley recorded a 14-point (8-8 FT), 10-rebound double-double, and Roanoke got 12 points each from Zach Rosenthal and Marcus Morgan. Kuthan made it five Maroons in double figures with 11 points and eight boards.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
DiSibio's 18 points moved him into 11th place on the W&L men's basketball all-time scoring list, passing John Lee Graves '84 (1,441). DiSibio can enter the career Top 10 with 51 more points (1,508).
d'Entremont moved himself closer to the 1,000-point threshold with his 15-point performance. He needs 45 more to break into quadruple digits.
TEAM STATS:
Both teams made 24 shots from the field and five three pointers, with W&L shooting 40.7 percent (24-59) overall to 37.5 percent (24-64) from the Maroons. Roanoke held a 15-point advantage at the free throw line, however, as the Maroons made 27-of-28 (.964) at the foul line to 12-of-15 (.800) for the Blue and White.
Roanoke outrebounded the Generals, 45-33, and held other scoring margins in points off turnovers (17-9), second-chance points (16-4) and bench points (25-6). W&L edged the home team in fastbreak points (10-9), and both sides scored 36 points in the paint.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will return home for their next contest, as they host No. 8 Guilford on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
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.
