COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Washington and Lee men's basketball team opened its 2024-25 season on Friday evening with a 63-50 loss against Wilkes on the first day of the Ursinus College Bear Bash Tip-Off Tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Colonels (1-0) opened the game on a 10-0 run across the first eight minutes of play, before W&L (0-1) junior
John Loughlin splashed home his first of two straight three-point shots to give the Generals life. Wilkes responded by increasing its lead by to nine points with just under five minutes to play before the half, but the Generals answered right back with seven-straight points, ending with a three from senior
Thomas Feigin, to get it back to a 19-17 game.
Wilkes closed out the first half by scoring the final seven points across the remaining 3:40, with Jack Argento scoring five of the points.
Loughlin got the second-half scoring going with his third triple of the night 36 seconds into the new frame, and he hit another one 1:14 later. However, Loughlin's second three came during a 13-3 run by the Colonels that saw them grow their lead to 39-23 with 15 minutes remaining in the game. Sophomore Alex Fannéy countered with a layup to start a 12-3 W&L run in response, with Loughlin adding seven more points to his total in that time.
After both sides traded four points to leave the score at 46-39 with 7:46 left to play, the Colonels held the Generals without consecutive scores for the rest of the game and outscored the Blue and White 17-11 during that span. Wilkes made 7-of-12 shots from the floor over the final eight minutes of play to 2-for-10 from the Generals.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Loughlin led the W&L offense with career highs in points (21) and threes made (5), as he finished 7-of-11 from the field and added seven rebounds. Junior
Colin Ryan came in next with eight points and pulled down a career-best 11 rebounds. Junior
A.J. Thomas and sophomore
Conor Roberton were the defensive leaders with two steals each.
Lucas Lesko paced the Wilkes offense with a game-high 26 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the field. He added 10 boards for a double-double, as well as three steals. Argento followed Lesko with 17 points (7-14 FG), four rebounds and two blocks, while Eli Becker and Joey Zvorsky combined for 21 rebounds.
TEAM STATS:
Wilkes shot 39.1 percent (25-64) from the field for the game but struggled from beyond the arc with a 5-of-27 (.185) outing. The Generals connected on 16-of-62 shots and made 7-of-33 from long range, to go along with 11-of-14 from the free throw line.
The Colonels also held statistical edges in points off turnovers (23-19), points in the paint (32-18) and fastbreak points (12-6), while W&L's bench outscored Wilkes' by a 10-8 margin.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will play in the Bear Bash Tip-Off Tournament consolation game on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. against Immaculata.
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.
