W&L Men's Basketball Notes - Week 8
Game 13: W&L (6-8, 1-4 ODAC) at E&H
(9-4, 2-2 ODAC)
Date: Monday, January 14, 7:00 pm
Location: Emory, Va.
Series Record: W&L leads, 62-38
Game 14: RC (7-8, 0-6 ODAC) at W&L (6-8,
1-4 ODAC)
Date: Wednesday, January 16, 7:00 pm
Location: Lexington, Va.
Series Record: RC leads, 79-41
Game 14: Guilfrod (13-2, 5-1 ODAC) at W&L
(6-8, 1-4 ODAC)
Date: Saturday, January 19, 2:00 pm
Location: Lexington, Va.
Series Record: GC leads, 30-16
LAST TIME OUT • HAMPDEN-SYDNEY
61, W&L 41 (1/12/13)
Hampden-Sydney used a 17-1 run midway through the second half to
pull away for a 61-41 win over Washington and Lee in ODAC men's
basketball on Saturday afternoon at Fleet Gymnasium. W&L
trailed just 21-20 at halftime and the Generals took a 22-21 lead
following a layup by senior forward J.D. Ey just 45
seconds into the second half. Another Ey layup made it a
25-24 game in favor of the Tigers at the 16:35 mark, but W&L
turned the ball over four times and missed four shots over the next
4:36 as H-SC stretched its lead to 17 points (42-25) with 11:59 to
play. Sophomore guard Greg Lewis began the run with a layup
at the 17:41 mark, then ended it with a three-pointer at 12:15 and
a steal and layup on the next possession. Five straight points from
sophomore guard Clay McLean
sliced it to a 13-point game (44-31) at the 9:50 mark, but that was
as close as the Generals would get the rest of the way. W&L
jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the opening 6:26 of the game but the
Generals went cold from the floor and scored just eight points for
the remainder of the first half. As a team, W&L shot just 33.3
percent (17-51) from the floor, including 3-of-23 (.130) from
beyond the arc. The Generals also committed 21
turnovers. Junior guard Kevin Gill
scored a team-high eight points, while first-year forward Andrew Franz
and junior forward Drew
Kimberly each chipped in six points. Lewis led the Tigers with
13 points and four steals, and junior center Khobi Williamson and
senior forward Harrison George added 10 points each. George
also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
LAST TIME AGAINST EMORY & HENRY •
W&L 78, EMORY & HENRY 56 (2/21/12)
Ninth-seeded Washington and Lee shot 59.0 percent (23-39) from the
floor in defeating eighth-seeded Emory & Henry, 67-50, in the
first round of the ODAC Men's Basketball Tournament on February 21,
2012 at the King Center. The first half was tightly contested,
featuring four ties with neither team leading by more than five
points. E&H (12-14) guard Damian Edwards tied the game at
23-23 with a three-pointer at the 3:13 mark, but the Generals
(13-13) closed with five straight points on a jumper by forward Larry
Whitaker and a three-pointer by guard Javon
McDonald for a 28-23 halftime advantage. McDonald canned
four three-pointers en route to scoring 14 points in the first
half. Six early points by center Drew Kimberly helped the Generals'
lead grow to 10 points (38-28) at the 15:42 mark, but an 8-3 Wasp
run sliced the W&L advantage back to 41-36 with 12:27
remaining. The Generals' lead remained single digits until an
8-0 run increased the W&L advantage to 56-42 with 6:23 to
play. Back-to-back three-pointers by guards Kevin Gill and Jeremy
Adkins, coupled with a layup by forward J.D. Ey, keyed the
decisive run. E&H would get no closer than 12 points the
rest of the way as the Generals defeated the Wasps for the second
time this season. McDonald led W&L with 18 points on 5-of-11
shooting, including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Adkins
totaled 11 points on 3-of-3 shooting, while Whitaker and Gill
tallied 10 points each. Whitaker added seven rebounds, and Ey
posted nine points, seven boards and five assists. Forward Armando
Murrell scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed a game-high 12
rebounds to lead the Wasps. Edwards chipped in 14 points and
five boards.
SCOUTING EMORY & HENRY
The Wasps enter Monday night's contest with a 3-9 overall record
and a 1-4 mark in the ODAC. E&H halted a four-game losing
streak on Saturday when it won at Shenandoah, 66-56. Emory &
Henry was paced by junior forward Tyler Mullins with 12 points and
six rebounds while senior forward Armando Murrell had 11 points of
his own. Junior forward Jorel Terrell and junior forward Charles
Smith each finished the game with 10 points with Terrell adding six
rebounds. The Wasps shot 48.1 percent (25-for-52) for the game and
won the battle of the boards, 45-26. E&H out-scored SU, 38-20,
in the paint and held a 13-2 margin on second-chance points. The
Wasps are averaging 65.4 points per game on 43.4 percent (276-636)
shooting. E&H is 2-3 at home this year, but have lost its last
two. First-year guard Myles Turner leads the team in scoring at
11.6 points per game, while Mullins averages a team-best 5.8
rebounds per game. The Generals lead the all-time series between
the two teams, 62-38. W&L has won nine of the last 10,
including both contests last season. The Generals have won three
straight at Emory, with the Wasps last home victory coming on
February 4, 2009, 73-68.
LAST TIME AGAINST ROANOKE • W&L 79,
ROANOKE 57 (1/11/12)
Washington and Lee shot 50.9 percent from the floor (29-57) and
the Generals recorded their first regular-season sweep of Roanoke
since the 1988-89 season with a 79-57 win over the Maroons on
January 11, 2012 at the Bast Center. Following a jumper by guard
Kwasi Amponsah at the 10:58 mark that gave RC a 12-11 lead, the
Generals limited the Maroons to just 3-of-15 shooting (.200) the
rest of the half in out-scoring Roanoke, 23-8, to take a commanding
34-20 lead into the break. Guard Kevin Gill started the run with a
jump shot and W&L made 8-of-16 (.500) of its field goal
attempts. Forwards Matt Gaeta and
Jeremy Adkins each scored five points during the run. In the second
period W&L continued its hot shooting, connecting on 62.5
percent (15-24) of its attempts as the Blue and White stretched out
its lead to as many as 23 points with 12:46 to play. W&L's
bench out-scored Roanoke's bench 42-19, led by 11 points from
Adkins, nine points from Gill, and eight points from guard Clay
McLean. Forward J.D. Ey had 10 points and six rebounds and forward
Larry Whitaker chipped in 10 points and five boards. Amponsah and
senior forward Logan Singleton each netted 13 points to lead
Roanoke, which shot just 32.2 percent (19-59) from the floor and
was out-rebounded 43-35.
SCOUTING ROANOKE
The Maroons head into Wednesday's game 7-8 overall and 0-6 in the
ODAC. RC has lost four straight games, including an 86-68 home loss
to Lynchburg on Saturday. Senior guard Kwasi Amponsah, the ODAC's
second leading scorer, finished the game with 22 points. Sophomore
forward Daniel Eacho was one rebound shy of a double-double,
scoring 11 points and pulling down nine boards. Sophomore
guard Julian Ramirez finished the contest with 11 points as well,
along with three rebounds, two assists and two steals. RC is 1-3 on
the road this season. The Maroons are averaging 76.4 points per
game on 44.0 percent (402-914) shooting. Amponsah leads the team in
scoring at 19.7 points per game. Eacho is the team-leader in
rebounds at 6.9 boards per game. The Maroons lead the all-time
series with the Generals, 79-41. W&L won both meetings last
season, and has taken six of the last 10. The last time RC won in
Lexington was on January 12, 2011, 73-59.
LAST TIME AGAINST GUILFORD • GUILFORD 68,
W&L 49 (2/8/12)
Guards Javon McDonald and Clay McLean shot a combined 12-of-22
from the floor (.546), but the remainder of the team shot just
6-of-28 (.214) as Washington and Lee fell to Guilford, 68-49, on
February 8, 2012 at Ragan-Brown Field House. The Quakers threatened
to pull away early, jumping out to a 14-6 lead 7:52 into the game
on a three-pointer by senior guard Gabriel Lowder. However,
McDonald kept the Generals in the game by drilling five
three-pointers and scoring all 18 of his points in the opening
half. W&L trailed just 17-13 at the 9:52 mark after
McDonald hit 1-of-2 from the free throw line, but Guilford used a
9-2 run over the next 3:36 to push out to an 11-point (26-15) lead
with 6:16 left in the first half en route to a 33-23 lead at the
break. The Quakers maintained a double-digit lead until a
three-pointer by guard Jeremy Adkins pulled the Generals to within
eight points (50-42) with 8:27 to play. Guard Carson Sullivan
drilled a triple the next time down and the Quakers led by no less
than 11 points the rest of the way. As a team, the Generals shot
just 36.0 percent (18-50) from the floor and hit only 5-of-13
(.385) free throw attempts. Guilford also claimed a 46-26
advantage on the boards. McDonald finished 6-of-10 from the
floor and 5-of-8 from three in scoring a team-best 18
markers. McLean shot 6-of-12 overall, finishing with 15
points. Forward Larry Whitaker added six points and a
team-high nine rebounds. Guilford, which shot 41.1 percent (23-56)
from the field, was led by Lowder's 23 points on 8-of-14
shooting. Senior forward Brad Monroe, guard Matt McCarthy and
senior guard Gene Efird chipped in eight points each.
SCOUTING GUILFORD
The Quakers come into the week on an eight-game winning streak
with a 13-2 overall record and a 5-1 mark in the ODAC. Guilford
most recently earned a 77-66 victory at Eastern Mennonite on
Saturday. Sophomore guard Matt McCarthy finished with 15 points and
a career-high five steals for GC. First-year forward Zeb Richardson
and sophomore forward Will Freeman scored 10 points apiece and
combined for 12 rebounds. Junior forward Jake Hopkins tossed in
eight points, corralled a game-best 11 boards and shared game-high
honors with four assists. The Quakers are averaging 76.2 points per
game on 45.4 percent (116-286) shooting. Senior guard Josh Pittman
leads the team in scoring with 16.9 points per game. Richardson is
the team-leader in rebounds at 8.2 per game. Guilford leads the
all-time series with the Generals, 30-16. The Quakers have won
eight of the last 10, including three straight. W&L last won
against Guilford in Lexington on December 8, 2010, 71-67.
THE HEAD GENERAL
Adam Hutchinson (Amherst, '93) is in his 10th season as the head
coach at Washington and Lee. He earned his 100th victory at W&L
in the season-opening win against Tufts at the John K. Adams
Tip-Off Classic. He now has a 105-143 (.423) record, and is the
second coach in school history to reach the 100-win plateau. Last
season, Hutchinson passed Harry (Cy) Young for second all-time in
coaching wins at W&L. The 2008 ODAC Coach of the Year,
Hutchinson led his 2009 team to the ODAC Championship game for the
first time since 1989. In his 13 seasons of coaching, Hutchinson
has an overall record of 138-209 (.398).
JUST HOW THEY DREW IT UP
Coming off the bench, junior center Drew Kimberly recorded a
career-high 20 points in the overtime loss at Eastern Mennonite
last Wednesday. He scored 16 of his points in the second half and
overtime as the Generals came back from a 13-point deficit to send
the game to the extra period. He shot 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) from
the field and 6-of-8 (75.0 percent) from the charity stripe. He
also had five rebounds, two blocks and an assist. His previous
career high was 14 points. Kimberly is shooting 63.2 percent
(24-38) on the season, which would be second in the ODAC if he
qualified. A player needs to have played 60 percent of his team's
game and average three made fg per game. Kimberly is only averaging
1.8 made field goals per contest. Sophomore forward Cam
Anderson of Hampden-Sydney leads the league at 63.6 percent (49-77)
from the field.
TROUBLE WITH THE FIRST
During the four game losing streak, the Generals have struggled in
the opening half. W&L is averaging 25.3 points in the first
compared to 34.5 points by its opponents. The Generals are shooting
31.0 percent (35-113) from the field, 23.9 percent (11-46) from
three-point range and are averaging 10.3 turnovers in the opening
half. The team cannot afford to fall behind in the first as it is
0-8 when trailing at halftime and 6-0 when leading at the
break.
WATCH OUT FOR EY
Opposing offenses always need to keep a lookout when they are
going up against the Generals. At any point, senior forward J.D. Ey
may swoop in for a block or a steal. Ey leads the ODAC in blocks
per game at 2.1 with junior forward Trent Batson of Virginia
Wesleyan in second at 1.9. Ey is also leading W&L in steals per
game at 1.4. He has the team's game-high in steals (4, done twice)
and blocks (4, done twice) this season. Ey is also a force around
the glass, grabbing an ODAC-best 8.6 rebounds per game. First-year
center Zeb Richardson of Guilford is second in the conference at
8.2 boards per game. In the second game of the W&L
Invitational, Ey collected a season-high 15 rebounds against Mary
Washington.
INTERVIEW WITH COACH HUTCHINSON
Following each game, coach Adam Hutchinson takes a minute to
answer some questions about his team's performance. The interview
is normally up 20 minutes after the game and can be found at
http://www.youtube.com/user/wlusports. All archived interviews can
be found there as well.
