LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee men's basketball team dropped its second matchup of the season against Roanoke on Thursday evening by a final score of 84-57.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Maroons (18-4, 12-2 ODAC) had the upper hand early, as they built up a 13-2 lead through the first four and a half minutes behind 6-of-9 shooting as a team and seven points from Joshua McClary. Sophomore
Conor Roberton got the W&L (6-16, 4-9 ODAC) offense going, however, with a three at the 14:54 mark to spur a 10-1 run to get the Generals back to within two points with 13:16 left in the half.
Over the next 5:35 of action, scoring was about even (13-12), as the Maroons managed to increase their lead to 27-24 with seven minutes before the half. McClary kept the hot hand for the visitors with another eight points in that time, with seven points from W&L first-year
Connor Amorosi. Clayton Gaither then connected on back-to-back triples for the Maroons to send them to a half-ending 17-4 run and a 44-28 halftime lead.
The Generals' struggles continued early in the second half as Roanoke opened with an 11-2 spurt to complete an overall run of 28-6, leaving the visitors ahead, 55-30, with 17:24 left in the game. W&L made four of its next five shots, including consecutive threes from sophomore Alex Fannéy and junior
A.J. Thomas, and later went on a 15-6 run over a seven-minute span, led by seven points from first-year
Ari Hobson.
Roanoke put its final touches on the game with a 10-2, game-ending run, as the Maroons made each of their final four shots from the field.
TOP PERFORMERS:
The first-year duo of Amorosi and Hobson led the Blue and White on the night, combining for 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting and 10 rebounds. Amorosi tallied a team-high of 13 points, while Hobson scored a season-high 11 points (5-7 FG) and pulled down seven rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench. Roberton followed with eight points and Thomas scored seven.
McClary scored 20 of his game-high 23 points in the first half to lead the way for the Maroons. He shot 9-of-14 overall, 3-of-5 from deep, and added five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Marcus Morgan came in next with 17 points (7-9 FG) and five rebounds, Jackson Bell scored 14 points (6-9 FG), and Gaither rounded out the top scorers with 12 points (4-6 FG).
TEAM STATS:
Roanoke shot 56.1 percent (32-57) overall on the night and made 17-of-29 first-half shots, while the Generals finished the game at 35.7 percent (20-56) from the floor and 36.4 percent (8-22) from long range. The Maroons connected on 10 threes at a rate of 43.5 percent, and they also held a one-point edge at the free throw line (10-9).
The Generals held a 5-4 advantage in second-chance points for the game, but Roanoke outscored the Blue and White 22-9 off turnovers, 34-18 in the paint and 11-7 on fastbreak opportunities.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will hit the road one final time in the regular season on Saturday, as they travel up to Shenandoah for a 4:30 p.m. start.
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.
