LYNCHBURG, Va. – Free throw shooting and lockdown, second-half defense helped the Washington and Lee men's basketball team overcome a five-point halftime deficit to a 70-60 win at Lynchburg on Wednesday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After trailing by five points at halftime, the Generals (16-8, 10-5 ODAC) flipped the switch with a 10-2 run to start the second half, led by six points from senior
Robert DiSibio. The Hornets (10-14, 5-10 ODAC) countered with a 10-4 run, but W&L then surged back into the lead with 11 straight points on the front end of an overall 24-7 run to take a 65-51 lead with 1:32 left in the game. That hot stretch spanned just over 10 minutes of game time, as the Blue and White held the Hornets to 2-of-19 shooting from the field.
Lynchburg scored nine of the final 14 points in the game, but W&L's lockdown defense during the second half left too little time for the Hornets to recover.
The Hornets opened the game with a 9-2 lead through four minutes of play. The two teams then traded baskets over the next six minutes, with W&L gaining only one point of ground, before DiSibio and first-year
Parker Neuenhaus made back-to-back shots to cut the team's deficit to two points. Lynchburg answered with an 11-3 run, which ended with nine straight points, before the Generals closed the half with a 7-2 run to go into halftime trailing, 32-27.
TOP PERFORMERS:
DiSibio finished the game with a high of 26 points, which came on 7-of-14 shooting, 2-of-4 from long range and a perfect 10-of-10 at the foul line. DiSibio also contributed eight rebounds and three assists. Senior
Drew Harrell tallied 11 points, making 5-of-6 free throws, to go along with five rebounds and three blocks.
Sophomore
A.J. Thomas notched nine points and a steal, while senior
Jack d'Entremont scored all eight of his points on eight free throw attempts. d'Entremont also recorded seven rebounds and came away with one steal.
Trey Gillenwater scored a Lynchburg-high 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while Jonathan Foust tallied a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double. Jake Hart was the team's second-leading rebounder for the game with eight, and he added six points.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
DiSibio became the sixth player in program history to reach 1,600 career points, as he ended the day at 1,625 for his career. DiSibio can move into the program's all-time Top 5 with 41 more points.
With their win, the Generals have secured a Top 5 seed for the upcoming ODAC Tournament, which means they are guaranteed a spot in the conference quarterfinals in Salem. W&L's final conference tournament placing will be determined following Saturday's game at Randolph-Macon.
TEAM STATS:
W&L shot 35.4 percent (17-48) from the field, but limited Lynchburg to 30.3 percent (23-76) overall. The Generals gained a massive advantage at the free throw line, as they shot 29-of-33 (.879) to the Hornets' 6-of-12 (.500) effort. It was the most made free throws in a game for the Generals since sinking 33 in a 106-100 victory over Mary Baldwin on November 15 of last season.
The Hornets grabbed 25 offensive rebounds, which led to a 27-5 advantage in second-chance points, plus other positive margins in points off turnovers (14-8), bench points (33-13) and points in the paint (28-20). The Blue and White outpaced the home side by an 18-3 count in fastbreak points.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will wrap up the 2023-24 regular season on Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. road tip-off at No. 3 Randolph-Macon.
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.
