SALEM, Va. – The sixth-seeded Washington and Lee men's basketball team fell by a final score of 92-68 at third-seeded Roanoke on Tuesday evening in the quarterfinal round of the ODAC Championship.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Maroons (20-6) were hot out of the gates, as they made each of their first six shots across four minutes of play for a 16-5 lead. The Generals' (17-9) offense settled in after that, but the teams split the next 22 points of the game across 7:27 of action for a 27-16 Roanoke lead through 12 minutes.
- Roanoke then proceeded to sink four of their next five shots, all of which came from beyond the arc, to run their advantage to 39-19 by the 5:35 mark. The Generals fought back over the next four minutes with a 13-6 run, but a Ryan Truitt jumper and Caleb Franze three in the final minute gave Roanoke momentum heading into the locker room.
- The second half began similar to the first, with a 19-6 Roanoke run across seven minutes, which opened the hosts' lead to 69-38. Franze and Jackson Bell both scored six in that run, while the Generals made 3-of-8 shots.
- Battling until the end, W&L did all it could to rally, as they outscored Roanoke 24-12 over the next 7:45, getting nine points from senior A.J. Thomas and shooting 8-of-13 as a team. However, those efforts cut it down to a 19-point Roanoke lead by the 5:15 mark, which proved to be too much to fully overcome.
TOP PERFORMERS:
- Thomas paced the Generals' offense with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting (4-8 3pt FG), followed by 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds from first-year Addison Newkirk.
- Senior Colin Ryan rounded out the top scorers for W&L with 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting. He added five rebounds and four assists to his line, as well.
- Franze and Bell combined for 61 points to highlight Roanoke's scoring. Franze had a game-high 31 points on 10-of-19 shooting (7-15 3pt FG), while Bell dropped 30 on 10-of-18 (6-11 3pt FG). Both players had three assists and two steals, with Bell adding six boards.
- Gavin O'Malley made all four of his field goal attempts, plus six foul shots, to score 14 points. Marcus Morgan led Roanoke with five assists and Truitt was the team's top rebounder (7).
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- With his four assists on the night and a career-high 128 helpers for the season, Ryan finishes his collegiate career with the fourth-most assists in program history (340).
- Loughlin will leave his name on a pair of program leaderboards, as well. He is 10th in program history for three-point field goal percentage (.380) and eighth in threes made (144).
TEAM STATS:
- The Generals shot 41.7 percent (25-60) from the field and 45.8 percent (11-24) from outside. Roanoke connected on 54.7 percent (29-53) of its shots, 46.7 percent (14-30) of its threes and also outscored W&L by 13 at the foul line (20-7).
- Roanoke held additional scoring advantages in points off turnovers (18-11), second-chance points (23-14) and points in the paint (30-24). The Generals' bench outscored the Maroons', 22-4.
END-OF-SEASON NOTES:
This concludes the W&L men's basketball team's 2025-26 season. The Generals, ranked 78th in the most recent NPI rankings, will finish outside the cutline for an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III Championship.
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.
