W&L Men's Basketball Notes - Week 10
Game 20: W&L (10-9, 5-5 ODAC) at
Bridgewater (10-9, 4-6 ODAC)
Date: Wednesday, January 30, 7:00 pm
Location: Bridgewater, Va.
Series Record: W&L leads, 73-47
Game 21: H-SC (17-2, 9-1 ODAC) at W&L
(10-9, 5-5 ODAC)
Date: Saturday, February 2, 2:00 pm
Location: Lexington, Va.
Series Record: H-SC leads, 75-42
LAST TIME OUT • W&L 69,
VIRGINIA WESLEYAN 68 (1/26/13)
Washington and Lee shot 51.9 percent from the field (27-52) to
upend Virginia Wesleyan, 69-68, on Saturday at the Warner Center.
It was the first victory for the Generals over the Marlins since
December 2, 2001. W&L led by one with 4:19 left in the game,
before sophomore forward Patrick
O'Connor drilled a three-pointer to push the lead to four,
59-55. Senior point guard Tré Ford netted a pair of free
throws on the ensuing possession to get back with two. A layup by
senior forward J.D. Ey pushed the
advantage to 61-57 with 3:20 remaining. A couple of free throws by
senior guard Chris Teasley made it a two-point game with just under
three minutes on the clock. After an offensive rebound by
first-year forward Andrew Franz,
O'Connor nailed a corner three, while being fouled, and connected
on the ensuing free throw to stretch the lead to six, 65-59, at the
2:40 mark. Senior guard Kelton
Buchanan then notched two free throws to give the Generals an
eight-point lead (67-59) with 2:18 on the clock. VWC scored nine of
the next 11 points, highlighted by a three and a layup by Teasley
to get within one, 69-68, with 25 seconds left. After the layup,
Teasley stole the ball as the Generals attempted to break the
Marlins' press with 15 ticks left. Teasley looked to have an easy
layup to take the lead, but Ey blocked the ball into the stands
with 13 seconds on the clock. On the final possession, the Generals
defense forced VWC into a long three-point attempt by Ford that
missed wide left. Franz led the Generals, coming close to a
triple-double. He finished with 18 points (on 8-of-14 shooting), a
career-high eight rebounds, and a career-high seven assists. Ey led
the team with 20 points, and had eight rebounds, four assists,
three blocks and two steals. O'Connor added 11 points and tied a
career-high with six boards. The Marlins jumped out to a 10-2
lead in the first four minutes of the opening half, but W&L
responded with an 11-2 run over the next six minutes to take a
13-12 lead at the 9:49 mark. The two teams went back-and-forth over
the final 10 minutes of the half, with the Generals taking a 27-26
lead into the break. Along with their 51.9 percent shooting from
the floor for the contest, the Generals went 4-of-11 (36.4 percent)
from the three-point line and 11-of-16 (68.8 percent) from the
charity stripe. VWC ended the game 22-of-63 (35.5 percent) from the
field, 3-of-15 (20.0 percent) from long distance and 21-of-25 (84.0
percent) from the foul line. The Marlins out-rebounded the
Generals, 37-31, but W&L had 19 assists compared to eight for
VWC. Senior forward Chris Astorga led the Marlins with 21 points
and seven rebounds. Teasley added 16 points and Ford recorded 10.
The victory ended a 23-game losing streak to the Marlins, and was
the first home win over Virginia Wesleyan for the Generals since
January 2, 2000. It also ended VWC's six-game winning streak dating
back to January 5.
LAST TIME AGAINST BRIDGEWATER •
BRIDGEWATER 81, W&L 78 (2/11/12)
Washington and Lee fell, 81-78, to Bridgewater at Nininger Hall on
February 11, 2012. BC used a 16-2 run over a 4:42 stretch midway
through the second half to turn a 52-52 game into a 68-54 lead with
4:31 to play, then held on as the Generals made a late rally of
their own. During the Eagles' run, BC limited W&L to just
1-of-4 shooting from the floor and forced five turnovers, including
a stretch of four straight possessions that ended in a Generals
turnover. With 1:33 to play, the Generals trailed by 12 (75-63),
before a pair of free throws by forward J.D. Ey ignited a 15-6
game-ending run for the Generals that ended with guard Javon
McDonald missing a potential game-tying three as time expired.
W&L was aided by poor BC free-throw shooting down the stretch,
as the Eagles made just 6-of-12 free-throw attempts in the final
1:33, while the Generals made good on 7-of-10 attempts from the
line and McDonald knocked down a pair of treys in the final 26
seconds. For the game, W&L shot better from the field
(.481-.431) and out-rebounded the Eagles 41-33, but could not
overcome the 24 turnovers which led to 36 points for Bridgewater.
Ey led the Generals with 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting and grabbed
12 rebounds. McDonald also scored 19 points, guard Clay McLean
scored a season-high 17 points and forward Larry
Whitaker had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Ed
Reddick led the Eagles with 18 points, all in the second half.
Ronnie Thomas and Matthew Hunter each scored 17 and Aaron Adams
contributed 10 points.
SCOUTING BRIDGEWATER
The Eagles enter the game against W&L 10-9 overall, but have
lost three straight games with their last victory coming on January
16 against Shenandoah, 80-57. Bridgewater is 4-6 in the ODAC and
5-4 at home. On Saturday, the Eagles lost at Emory & Henry,
70-65. Sophomore guard Matt Hunter was the only Bridgewater player
in double figures as he finished with 14 points. Bridgewater's top
three scorers – junior guard Ronnie Thomas, sophomore forward
Ed Reddick and junior guard Travis Stapleton – entered the
game averaging a combined total of 35.2 points per game, but the
trio managed just 11 on Saturday. The Eagles average 71.2 points
per game on 42.2 percent (481-1141) shooting from the field. Thomas
leads the team at 11.8 ppg with Reddick in second at 11.3 ppg.
Reddick is the team leader in rebounds at 6.7 boards per game. The
Generals lead the all-time series over the Eagles, 73-47.
Bridgewater has won the last two games and six of the last 10
against W&L. The Blue and White's last victory came on the
road, 75-71, on February 13, 2010. The Generals have won three of
the last five at Bridgewater.
LAST TIME AGAINST HAMPDEN-SYDNEY • H-SC
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 January 12, 2013 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 (13-2, 5-1) 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.
SCOUTING #23 HAMPDEN-SYDNEY
The 23rd-ranked Tigers enter the week on a six-game winning streak
and are 17-2 overall. Hampden-Sydney is tied for the ODAC lead with
a 9-1 record. H-SC is 10-0 at home, 6-2 on the road and 1-0 in
neutral-site contests. On Saturday, the Tigers defeated Guilford,
76-52, to avenge their only conference loss of the season.
Sophomore point guard Leon Hargrove set two new career highs in
points (15) and assists (6), to go along with four rebounds and two
steals. Junior center Khobi Williamson posted 14 points, a
game-high nine boards and three blocked shots, and senior forward
Harrison George contributed 10 points and four assists. H-SC is
averaging 83.9 points per game on 51.4 percent (604-1,174)
shooting, which is fifth in Division III. George leads the team in
scoring at 15.3 points per game and rebounds at 6.1 boards per
game. The Tigers lead the all-time series with the Generals, 75-42,
including a 61-41 victory at Hampden-Sydney earlier this year. H-SC
has won the last six meetings with W&L's last victory coming at
home on January 24, 2009, 73-60. The Blue and White are 2-3 in its
last five home games against Hampden-Sydney.
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 109-144 (.431) 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 142-210 (.403).
FRANZTASTIC PLAY
Rookie forward Andrew Franz flirted with a triple-double on
Saturday, finishing with 18 points, eight rebounds and seven
assists in the victory over VWC. The rebound and assist totals were
new career highs, and the 18 points tied his collegiate high. He
also scored 18 points at Emory & Henry on January 14. For the
season, Franz is averaging 9.8 point per game (third among
first-years in the ODAC) on 46.5 percent (66-142) shooting. He also
contributes 3.9 boards and 1.6 assists per game.
WATCH OUT FOR EY
Senior forward J.D. Ey continued his strong play last week,
highlighted by his performance in the win over Virginia Wesleyan.
Ey had 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and
three blocks in the victory, including a game-saving block in the
final 15 seconds. For the week, he averaged 14 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 3.0
apg, 1.5 spg and 2.5 bpg. He also shot 55.0 percent (11-20) from
the field. Ey leads the ODAC in rebounds per game (8.8) and blocks
per game (2.4). He has had at least two blocks in 13 consecutive
games (37 blocks over that span), and he is also ninth in steals
per game (1.6).
THE CENTURION
In his performance against VWC, J.D. Ey played in the 100th game
of his career. In his 100 contests, he has totaled 948 points, 756
rebounds, 158 blocks, 128 steals and 210 assists. He is second
all-time in blocks at W&L, with Rob Smitherman '81 holding the
all-time record with 190. Ey is six steals away from tying Isaiah
Goodman '09 for fifth in steals at W&L with 134. Ey is the only
player in W&L history with at least 900 points, 700 rebounds,
200 assists, 150 blocks and 100 steals. He is 52 points away from
1,000 for his career, and would become the 22nd player in program
history to reach the total.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
The Generals are 5-3 in the Warner Center this season, including
three straight victories in Lexington. W&L has not lost at home
since a 68-67 loss to Lynchburg on January 5. In their last two
home games, the Generals defeated Guilford, 62-58, on January 19,
who was on a nine-game winning streak and Virginia Wesleyan on
Saturday, who was on a six-game winning streak. Sophomore point
guard Javon McDonald leads the team with 14.1 points per game at
the Warner Center with first-year forward Andrew Franz averaging
12.0 ppg. W&L is 3-5 on the road and 2-1 in neutral-site
contests.
OFF THE BENCH
In securing its first victory in 24 tries against Virginia
Wesleyan, W&L out-scored the Marlins, 20-9, in bench points.
Leading the Generals was forward Patrick O'Connor. The sophomore
totaled 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting and grabbed six rebounds in 26
minutes. It marked the second time this season O'Connor notched
double-digit points, with both coming in home victories for the
Generals.
AT THE BREAK
Put this under the fun with numbers category, but the Generals are
a perfect 10-0 when leading at halftime. On the flip side, W&L
has yet to win a game when trailing at intermission with a record
of 0-9.
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.
