WINCHESTER, Va. – The Washington and Lee men's basketball team showed late fight and rallied to within five points, but Shenandoah held on for a 67-60 win on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Scoring was slow following the opening tip-off, as it took nearly two minutes for the Hornets (8-15, 3-11 ODAC) to get on the board first. Overall, the first half saw both teams go back-and-forth, until an 8-0 run from Shenandoah with nine minutes remaining to go up, 23-15. The Generals (6-17, 4-10 ODAC) were 6-of-13 from the field in that time, but the Hornets sank nine of their first 14 attempts, including 5-of-8 from outside.
The Generals maintained their percentage the rest of the first half, making 4-of-9 heading into halftime, while the Hornets cooled to three of their final 11 attempts. Shenandoah went into the break with a 32-23 lead, with SU's Dorian Davis pacing all scorers with 10 points.
The Hornets scored the first five points of the second half before first-year
Bryce Breeden connected on his second three of the game to start an 11-3 run that got W&L back within six points with 11:58 to go. Shenandoah countered with the next seven points, before a triple from senior
Thomas Feigin and four points from first-year
Connor Amorosi got W&L back to nine points down with 7:12 left to play.
Both teams continued to exchange small runs, until the Generals threatened the SU lead with a 13-4 run from 5:21 to 1:15 of the fourth to make it a five-point game. After Breeden's third three of the game got the score to 60-55 in favor of the hosts, the Hornets fended off a final W&L push by making one field goal and going 5-of-6 at the free throw line over the final 37 seconds to close out the game.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Amorosi scored a game-high 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the floor, to go along with five rebounds and two steals. Junior
Colin Ryan matched Amorosi's percentage, as he made 5-of-9 field goal attempts to score 11 points. Ryan also recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 12 rebounds, which marked his eighth double-digit rebound effort of the year.
The Shenandoah offense was led by a trio of players in double figures, with Davis logging a team-high 18 points plus eight rebounds. Landon Russ followed with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 4-of-6 from outside, while Joseph Baldwin recorded a 12-point, nine-rebound performance.
TEAM STATS:
The Hornets shot 42.3 percent (22-52) from the floor in the game, including 36.4 percent (8-22) from long range, and they also made 15-of-17 free throws. W&L ended the game shooting 40.7 percent (24-59) overall and made 7-of-26 three-point shots.
W&L held a 38-28 advantage in total rebounds, including a 14-5 edge in offensive boards, which helped the Generals to a 15-8 margin in second-chance points. The Blue and White also outscored the Hornets off the bench (30-11) and in the paint (32-22), while Shenandoah claimed a 21-6 advantage in points off turnovers and a 16-6 edge in fastbreak points.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will be home for their remaining two regular season contests, starting with Averett on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.
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.
