LYNCHBURG, Va. – Six points down the stretch from Washington and Lee first-year
Jackson Ransom helped the Generals fight off a late comeback from Randolph on Saturday night, as W&L left the Hill City with a 69-65 win.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
In what was an evenly-matched second half, Ransom went to the free throw line and sank both attempts to give the Generals (3-8, 1-1 ODAC) a 63-55 lead with 2:55 left to play. The WildCats (5-6, 1-3 ODAC) then got buckets from Moustapha Diop and Rayvon Graham at 2:31 and 1:30, respectively, before Ransom laid the ball in at 1:10 to keep W&L ahead, 65-59.
After both teams exchanged two points each within a 30-second span, Graham hit two straight jumpers, including a stepback with 24 seconds left that was initially ruled a three, but later changed to a two-point shot after video review. On the ensuing W&L possession, Ransom stepped up yet again and went 2-for-2 at the free throw line to give the Generals their final four-point lead. The last Randolph possession saw the WildCats come up empty on a layup try from Graham and a three-point attempt from Evan Wiehe.
W&L opened things up with a 13-5 lead through nearly four minutes of play, as the Generals hit five of their first six shots from the field. Senior
Thomas Feigin led the way with six points, which came on consecutive three-point shots, to give the Blue and White their 13-5 advantage. The WildCats answered with a 9-2 run to flip the game in their favor by a point, before the Generals scored 15 of the game's next 20 points to assume a 30-19 lead at the 4:25 mark.
Over the final 4:14 of the opening half, Randolph outscored its visitors, 13-7, to leave the Generals up, 37-32, at the half. Both teams sank three of their final five field goal attempts heading into halftime.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Ransom and classmate
Connor Amorosi led the W&L offense with 15 points each on a combined 10-of-17 shooting from the field. Amorosi made 6-of-10 shots, led W&L with seven rebounds and tied for the team high with four assists. Ransom made four of his seven field goal attempts and came away with two steals.
Junior
A.J. Thomas scored 13 points on an efficient 4-of-6 from the field, including 1-for-2 from deep and 4-for-4 at the free throw line, to go along with four rebounds and a steal. Junior
Colin Ryan tallied 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Jordan Phillips-McLoyd led Randolph's offense with 15 points, followed by Diop with 13 points plus seven rebounds. Wiehe notched 10 points, five boards and three dimes, while Maurice Davis led the team with nine rebounds in addition to scoring nine points.
TEAM STATS:
Both teams made 23 field goal attempts in the game, but W&L did so at a rate of 46.9 percent (23-49) to 37.7 percent (23-61) from the hosts. Randolph was also limited to just 6-of-27 (.222) from long range but made 13-of-15 free throw attempts.
The WildCats won the rebounding battle by a 41-31 margin, including 13-4 on the offensive glass. That led to a 14-6 margin in second-chance points for Randolph, and they also outscored the Generals 34-12 in bench points and 30-26 in the points. W&L held the final edge, 15-11, in points off turnovers.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will remain on the road for their next contest, a 7:00 p.m. tip-off at Virginia Wesleyan on Wednesday night, January 8.
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.
