LEXINGTON, Va. – Junior
A.J. Thomas poured in a career-high 26 points to propel the Washington and Lee men's basketball team past Methodist, 74-66, in Sunday's opening game of the W&L Holiday Tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Monarchs (4-6) held a slight 13-12 lead through the first 5:39 of action, with both sides connecting on four field goal attempts and committing one turnover each. After a Ron Jones layup at the 14:21 mark, W&L (2-7) sophomore
Conor Roberton skated through the defense for a smooth reverse layup to jumpstart an 11-0 run for the Generals. That 11-0 spurt was part of an overall 17-3 stretch for the hosts that saw six different scorers find the bottom of the net.
Trailing by a first-half high 13 points with 7:17 left, the Monarchs got a three from Tomas Stevens to fall, as they outscored W&L, 12-6, for the rest of the half to cut into the lead before halftime.
Derrion Hicklen opened the second half by nailing a triple to cut the Methodist deficit down to four points, but the Generals responded with another lengthy run, this time a mark of 15-4 over the next six minutes of play. Thomas led his side with eight points during that run, with another five coming from junior
Colin Ryan.
The Generals led by 15 points after the 15-4 run, but just like the end of the first half, the Monarchs locked in and slowly chipped away at the W&L lead. They gradually crept closer until a Hicklen three with two minutes remaining made it a 63-57 W&L lead. Over the final 101 seconds of action, W&L held Methodist off by outscoring them, 11-9, with all of the Generals' points coming at the foul line. This included seven made freebies from Thomas, who went 3-for-4 in the final 30 seconds.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Thomas's game- and career-high 26 points came on 5-of-12 shooting from the field and a 16-of-20 showing at the free throw line. Thomas made 5-of-7 shots from inside the arc and added seven rebounds, two assists and a steal to his line. Junior
John Loughlin contributed 13 points (3-9 3pt FG) and six boards, while Ryan posted a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double.
Hicklen finished the afternoon with a team-high 19 points plus five rebounds and a steal. David McCallum Jr. was the only other Monarch to reach double-digit scoring (13). Zac Sledge and Ron Jones both scored eight points on a combined 6-for-10 shooting from the field.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Thomas's 16-of-20 performance at the free throw line ended up two makes and two attempts short of tying the program single-game records. Jon Coffman went 18-of-22 vs. Mary Washington on January 9, 1995, while Dom Flora and Jay Handlan also each attempted 22 foul shots in a game in 1955 and 1950, respectively.
Thomas has also been W&L's top scorer over the last five games. In that time, Thomas is averaging 17.4 points per game on 50 percent shooting from the field (25-50). He has double-digit points in each of those games, 19 or more in three contests and has set a career-high point total twice in that span.
TEAM STATS:
W&L made 39.3 percent (22-56) of its shots in the game and stepped up their efforts in the second half with a 0.429 field goal percentage. After making only 3-of-8 foul shots in the first half, the Generals went 21-of-27 (.778) in the final 20 minutes.
Methodist connected on 41.4 percent (24-58) of its shots, including 46.7 percent (14-30) in the second half and 5-of-13 from long range after halftime. The Monarchs went 6-of-8 on first-half free throw attempts, but faltered at 5-of-11 in the second half.
The Generals held the overall (40-34) and offensive rebounding (10-7) advantages in the game, with as 12-10 positive edge in second-chance points. W&L got great production from its bench, which outscored Methodist's 40-18. Both teams scored nine points off turnovers and 32 points in the paint.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will take on Piedmont on Monday at 4:00 p.m. in the W&L Holiday Tournament Championship Game.
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.
