#9 Washington and Lee to Face #1 Virginia Wesleyan in Quarterfinals
EMORY, Va. --- 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 Tuesday evening 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) first-year 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 sophomore forward Larry
Whitaker(Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) and a three-pointer by
first-year guard Javon
McDonald (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) 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 sophomore center Drew
Kimberly (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) 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 sophomore guard Kevin
Gill (Richmond, Va./Benedictine) and junior guard Jeremy
Adkins (Huntington, W. Va./Spring Valley), coupled with a
layup by junior forward J.D. Ey (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park), 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.
Junior 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.
Washington and Lee advances to the quarterfinals of the ODAC
Tournament on Friday at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va.
The Generals will take on top-seeded Virginia Wesleyan at 1:00
pm.
--- This release is
courtesy of the Washington and Lee University sports information
department. ---
www.generalssports.com