STAUNTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee men's basketball team got a combined 44 points from
Colin Ryan and
Connor Amorosi on Wednesday night to march past Mary Baldwin, 76-63.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Ryan and Amorosi scored 23 of their 44 points in the first half, including six in the opening seven minutes for a 12-5 lead.
- The Squirrels (1-2), backed by a raucous home crowd, responded by outscoring W&L (3-0) 22-12 over the next 10 minutes of play to bounce in front, 27-24. They made 9-of-17 shots from the field during that run, while holding the Generals to just 5-of-18.
- The Generals got the score back even, 33-33, by the halftime horn behind six more points from Ryan over the final three minutes of the half.
- W&L opened the second half with a 12-2 run, led by a team-high five points from sophomore Jackson Ransom. Marquise Dunklin of MBU proceeded to score 10 of his team's next 14 points, however, to shave their deficit back to four.
- Over the final nine minutes of the game, the Generals made 6-of-7 shots from the field and 11-of-13 at the foul line to put the game away. Amorosi had nine points to close things out, plus eight more from Ryan, while the Squirrels missed 10 of their final 13 shot attempts.
TOP PERFORMERS:
- Amorosi led the Generals with 24 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor and 9-of-13 on free throws. Ryan torched the Squirrels for a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double, in addition to six assists, two blocks and three steals.
- First-year Addison Newkirk contributed nine points and nine boards, with another 11 points combined from senior John Loughlin and Ransom.
- Raymond Benton scored a Mary Baldwin-high 16 points, followed by 15 from Dunklin and 13 from Rony Hogarth. CJ Goode and Malachi Washington tied for the team high of six rebounds, with Washington adding two blocks and two steals on defense.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- The Generals are off to their first 3-0 start to a season since opening the 2010-11 campaign with a 5-0 record.
- Amorosi's 24 points boosted his early-season scoring average to a team-best 20.3. Ryan is up to 14.3 points per game through three games, plus 6.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game.
TEAM STATS:
- W&L shot 42.9 percent (24-56) from the floor for the game, which included 56 percent (14-25) in the second half. The team shook just four makes from outside to sink 24-of-33 (.727) shots from the foul line to keep their distance from MBU.
- The Fighting Squirrels ended the night at 36.5 percent (23-63) shooting, and they were held to 28.1 percent (9-32) in the second half.
- The Generals posted a 45-34 rebound margin and had one less turnover (13) than Mary Baldwin (14).
- The teams were even in both points off turnovers (13-13) and second-chance points (8-8), while Mary Baldwin held a 40-12 advantage in bench points. The Blue and White outscored the hosts in the paint (38-34) and on fastbreaks (14-7).
UP NEXT:
After playing their first two games of the season in Pennsylvania, the Generals will head back to the Keystone State on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off against Dickinson.
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.
