GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Washington and Lee men's basketball team put together a monstrous run over the final 12 minutes of the first half to highlight their Messiah Tip-Off Tournament Championship win over St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) on Saturday, 94-67.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Both teams were evenly matched through the first eight minutes of play, with St. Joseph's (1-2) Jacob Idowu hitting a three at 13:03 to tie the game, 16-16.
- After calling a timeout, the Generals (2-0) set the gym ablaze over the final 12 minutes, hitting 15-of-25 shots to close the half on a 40-9 run to take a 56-25 lead into the break. Within that run, W&L had separate scoring streaks of 13 points and 18 points.
- Sophomore Bryce Breeden led the Generals with nine points during the big first-half run, followed by eight from first-year Addison Newkirk and seven from senior A.J. Thomas.
- W&L continued its momentum well into the second half, running its lead up to a game-high 43 points (83-40) by the 9:23 mark after back-to-back jumpers by first-year Mill Chapman.
- The Bears showed fight over the final 10 minutes, outscoring the Generals 27-11 to end the game. Maven Cummings had a team-high 12 points in that time.
TOP PERFORMERS:
- Amorosi led the Generals in scoring for the second-straight game, ending at 15 points, to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Newkirk turned in 12 points on an efficient 5-of-7 shooting and six rebounds.
- Thomas added 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting (2-4 3pt FG), with senior John Loughlin and Breeden both finishing the game with nine points. First-year Daniel Buttemere led the defensive efforts with three steals, plus two steals from Thomas.
- Cummings paced the Bears' offense with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Idowu followed with 13 points and seven rebounds, with Jorden Bennett right behind him with 12 points. Bennett also led all players in the game with four blocked shots.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- The Generals are off to one of its hottest 2-0 starts in program history. The team has outscored its opponents by 52 points over the first two games, the most since the 1987-88 team started 2-0 and held a plus-55 scoring margin.
- It is also the first time the Generals have scored 88 or more points in consecutive games since ending the 2022-23 season on a three-game streak.
TEAM STATS:
- W&L ended the game making 42.5 percent (34-80) of its shots from the field, including 52.5 percent (21-40) in the first half. The Blue and White sank 13-of-39 threes (.333) and made 13-of-17 free throws (.765).
- The Bears were held to 37.3 percent (22-59) shooting overall and 28.6 percent (6-12) from long range. They did excel, however, at the free throw line, making 17-of-20 (.850).
- The Generals outrebounded the Bears, 47-36, in the game, held a 17-8 margin in assists and forced 19 turnovers to just 10 for themselves. W&L was also positive in points off turnovers (21-12), second-chance points (30-15), bench points (50-37), points in the paint (38-28) and fastbreak points (10-5).
UP NEXT:
The Generals will be back in action on Wednesday night when they travel to Staunton, Va., for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off against Mary Baldwin.
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.
