LEXINGTON, Va. – An 11-point lead with just over a minute left turned sweaty, but the Washington and Lee men's basketball team outlasted Averett, 78-75, on Tuesday evening to remain in command of the final conference tournament berth.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Tuesday's win was crucial for the Generals in their quest to secure the final spot in the upcoming ODAC Championship tournament. With just one game remaining and two games back of Lynchburg for the No. 7 seed, W&L (5-10 ODAC) would clinch the eighth and final spot in the tournament with a win or Shenandoah (4-11 ODAC) loss on Saturday.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Despite being down 11 points with 81 seconds left in the game, the Cougars (8-16, 3-12 ODAC) went down swinging, as a Jason Sellars layup preceded a defensive stop and another Sellars lay-in to cut the lead to 77-70 with 21 seconds left. Averett then turned a W&L (7-17, 5-10 ODAC) turnover into two points from Terrell Fitzgerald with six seconds left, while Jamison Graves went on to bank in and off-balanced three with 1.5 seconds remaining after first-year
Connor Amorosi went 1-for-2 at the free throw line.
On the ensuing inbound play, the ball was poked free but, with so little time remaining, time ran out before either team could regain possession.
After the Cougars opened the scoring on a Graves turnaround jumper 40 seconds in, the Generals scored the next 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting as a team to take early control. Four different Generals scored, led by four points from Amorosi.
Outside of a 7-0 run for W&L over a 1:44 span in the opening half, neither team managed to score more than two straight field goals before a response from the opposition. W&L's 7-0 spurt until 7:01 remained in the half put them ahead 31-19, the largest lead of the half, before the Cougars closed the gap with a 15-9 run (6-7 FG) heading into the locker room to make it a 40-34 game.
Averett was able to close their deficit to two points after a Jackson Sellars triple fell at the 12:51 mark of the second half. W&L first-year
Bryce Breeden responded with a three of his own just nine seconds later to start a 14-6 run to give the Generals a 10-point cushion, once again. Both teams traded scoring until an
Ari Hobson layup with 1:21 left put the Generals ahead, 77-66.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Amorosi led the Generals with 20 points on an efficient 6-of-10 shooting and 8-of-10 at the free throw line, to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Hobson got his first collegiate start on Tuesday and turned in a 13-point, five-rebound game and made 6-of-12 field goal attempts. Breeden had another strong game from outside, as he made 4-of-5 triples to post 13 points, including a made three plus a foul with 12:14 left in the second half.
The Generals got an additional nine points each from senior
Thomas Feigin and junior
Colin Ryan on a combined 7-of-13 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 from outside.
Graves paced the Averett offense with 24 points, including 17 in the first half, as he made 8-of-14 shots overall and 4-of-8 from three-point range. Jason Sellars finished with 17 points (7-9 FG), eight rebounds and two blocks, while Jackson Sellars scored 14 points and pulled in six boards.
TEAM STATS:
Both teams finished at 50 percent field goal shooting or better on the night. Averett posted a mark of 0.547 (29-53) and was over 53 percent in both halves, while the Generals ended the game at an even 50 percent (28-56) and connected on 48 percent of their shots or better in both halves. The Cougars edged W&L in total rebounds (31-26) and offensive rebounds (12-11), but the Generals won the turnover battle (12-9).
The Cougars outscored W&L on fastbreaks, 9-5, but the Blue and White held positive margins in points off turnovers (15-14), second-chance points (13-8), bench points (21-14) and points in the paint (34-32).
UP NEXT:
The Generals will close out their 2024-25 regular season on Saturday when they host Ferrum at 4:30 p.m. looking to split the season series. Prior to the game, W&L's
Thomas Feigin, the only player in this year's senior class, will be recognized as part of Senior Day.
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.
