Washington and Lee University
THE SERIES:
W&L and Bridgewater will be meeting for the 114th time, with the Generals holding a 69-44 advantage in the all-time series. The two teams split the season series last season as both teams won on the others' court. The Eagles won the last meeting by a score of 48-46 at the Warner Center. A win would give W&L 70 all-time victories against the Eagles, tied for the most all-time against one opponent (Lynchburg - 70 wins).
LAST TIME OUT:
Roanoke College recovered from a 12-1 deficit to start the game in posting a 71-64 victory over Washington and Lee in ODAC men’s basketball action on Sunday evening at the Warner Center. The Maroons missed each of their first seven shots from the field and trailed by 11 points with 14:17 left in the first half. However, Roanoke chipped away at the Generals’ lead and the teams went into the half tied at 34-34. Roanoke then began the second half on an 11-4 run to assume a 45-38 lead with 11:09 left in the game and never relinquished the lead. W&L cut it to a two-point game (63-61) on a three-pointer by junior guard Chris McHugh with 36 seconds remaining, but Roanoke hit all eight of its free throws from that point on to post the seven-point win. The Generals were led by senior forward Greg Bienemann, who totaled a game-high 28 points and 13 rebounds. McHugh tallied a career-high 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range, while senior forward Femi Kusimo added 10 points and five rebounds. Roanoke was paced by senior guard A.J. Dowell, who notched 23 points and four rebounds. Senior forward Josh LaPorte chipped in 17 points and eight boards.
THE HEAD GENERAL:
Adam Hutchinson (Amherst '93) is in his fifth season as the head coach at Washington and Lee. In his eight seasons as a head coach, Hutchinson claims a 63-145 (.303) overall record. He is assisted by Sean Grant (NYU '02).
LAST MEETING WITH BRIDGEWATER:
Bridgewater guard Andrew Cathlin scored on a break-away layup as time expired to lift the Eagles to a 48-46 win over Washington and Lee at the Warner Center. BC guard D.J. Billups tied the game at 46-46 with 25 seconds remaining as he hit the front end of a one-and-one. Billups missed the second free throw, which the Generals rebounded and called a time out to set up a play for the win. Following the timeout, guard Chris McHugh drove the lane, but could not find the hoop with his shot. Forward Greg Bienemann rebounded the miss, but the ball was poked away and into Billups’ hands, who led Cathlin for the winning layup. The game featured six ties and 10 lead changes and neither team led by more than seven points at any time during the contest. The Eagles carried a 21-19 lead into halftime, but the Generals took the lead for much of the second half and stretched to a 36-31 advantage with 7:05 remaining. However, the Generals could not pull away and Bridgewater assumed a 38-36 lead with 4:45 left in the game. Neither team would lead by more than two points the rest of the way. W&L was paced by Bienemann, who tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds, while forward Femi Kusimo added six points and six rebounds. Billups led Bridgewater with 16 points and four assists. Forward Michael Oblitey chipped in nine points.
SCOUTING BRIDGEWATER:
Bridgewater is 8-2 overall and 3-1 in the ODAC following an 85-82 victory over Lynchburg on Sunday afternoon. The Eagles shot 69.6 percent in the second half in rallying from a 10-point deficit with just over 12 minutes remaining. BC took its first lead of the second stanza (76-74) with 2:49 remaining and held for the road victory. Junior forward Michael Oblitey paced five Eagles in double figures with 22 points on 6-of-7 shooting from three-point range. Senior forward Josh Fox tallied 19 points, while senior guard Andrew Cathlin notched 11 points. Sophomore guards D.J. Billups and Dominic Trawick chipped in 10 points apiece. For the season, Trawick leads Bridgewater with averages of 13.9 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Oblitey contributes 12.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, and he is shooting 52.3 percent (45-86) from the floor and 55.0 percent (22-40) from three-point range. Fox adds 9.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per outing.
STRONG START = STRONG FINISH:
W&L is 16-1 in its last 17 games when leading at the break and has compiled a 50-24 (.676) record over the past 10 years when it leads at the break. W&L has won a total of 65 games during that stretch, meaning that the Generals have led at halftime in nearly 77 percent of their wins during the last 10 years.
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR:
With a 76-72 loss at Emory on Nov. 20, the Generals suffered their third defeat this season by five points or less. Dating back to the beginning of the 2006-07 season, the Generals have a total of 19 losses, 11 of which have been by seven points or less.
SCORCHING THE NETS:
As a team, the Generals are currently shooting 48.1 percent (285-592) from the floor and have shot better than 50 percent in five of 11 contests this season. W&L's percentage is currently the highest season percentage by a Generals' team since the 1988-89 team shot 48.7 percent from the floor.
FREE THROW WOES:
The Generals might be shooting a high percentage from the field, but that has not been the case on the foul line. W&L is shooting just 59.8 percent (137-229) from the free throw stripe and has hit just 16-of-41 (.390) free throw attempts over the last two contests.
ON THE GLASS:
W&L has been outrebounded in seven of its 11 games this season and claims a -2.4 rebounding margin for the season. However, the Generals have cleaning the glass of late and have won the rebounding battle in each of the last three games. During that stetch, the Generals have held a +7.0 rebounding margin.
FABULOUS FEMI:
Senior forward Femi Kusimo has been the Generals' top shooter over the past four seasons. Kusimo is a career 59.6 percent (327-549) shooter from the floor and last season, he set a new W&L season record by shooting 61.5 percent (110-179) en route to averaging 10.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. This season, Kusimo is second on the team in scoring with an average of 11.1 points per game and he is shooting 62.2 percent from the floor. He was named to the all-tournament team of the W&L Tournament after averaging 15.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game and he has shot a combined 15-for-19 (.790) from the floor in his last two games. Kusimo currently lays claim to 762 career points.
CAREER DAY:
Junior guard Chris McHugh is coming off the scoring effort of his career in a 71-64 loss to Roanoke on Sunday. McHugh scored a career-high 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor and 4-6 shooting from beyond the arc. He also totaled four assists and two rebounds. McHugh is currently third on the team in scoring (7.8 ppg) and second in assists (2.5 apg).
BIENEMANN THE BETTER MAN:
Senior forward Greg Bienemann has been on a tear since returning from the holiday break. He was named the Tournament MVP of the W&L Tournament after averaging 20.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 blocks per game over the two games. He then followed up those performances with a 22-point, six-rebound, six-assist performance in a 71-47 victory over Goucher, a 24-point, seven-rebound, four-assist and two-block game in a 79-65 win at Eastern Mennonite and a 28-point, 13-rebound effort in a 71-64 loss to Roanoke. For the year, Bienemann leads the team in scoring (22.0 ppg), rebounding (7.8 rpg), assists (2.6 apg) and blocks (1.0 bpg). He claims 62 career double-digit scoring efforts and 19 games of at least 20 points. He has also scored in double-figures for 18-straight games dating back to last season. Bienemann has tallied a career-high 33 points on three occasions, including on Dec. 1 when he totaled 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the Generals' first win over Randolph-Macon since 1977. With his 242 points this season, Bienemann has moved into 13th place on the Generals' all-time scoring list with 1,256 career points. He can overtake Mike Neer for 12th place with 34 more points. Below is a list of W&L's all-time leading scorers.
W&L ALL-TIME LEADING SCORERS
1. Dom Flora (1954-58), 2,310
2. Jay Handlan (1948-52), 2,002
3. Mel Cartwright (1966-67), 1,800
4. Mike Daniel (1968-72), 1,665
5. Skip Lichtfuss (1970-74), 1,592
6. Lee Marshall (1954-57), 1,561
7. Chris Jacobs (1987-91), 1,523
8. Cam Dyer (1992-96), 1,508
9. John Lee Graves (1980-84), 1,441
10. Pat Dennis (1974-78), 1,428
11. Brian Hanson (1979-83), 1,338
12. Mike Neer (1967-70), 1,289
13. Greg Bienemann (2004-pr.), 1,256
14. Ed Hart (1987-91), 1,238
15. Jeff Harralson (1983-87), 1,219
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