Washington and Lee University
THE SERIES':
W&L and Emory & Henry are meeting for the 91st time, with the Generals holding a 53-37 advantage in the all-time series. W&L won this season's earlier meeting, 115-106. W&L and Lynchburg will be meeting for the 103rd time, with the Generals leading the all-time series 71-31. The Generals defeated LC, 77-62, earlier this season and carry a four-game winning streak against the Hornets into this week's contest.
LAST TIME OUT:
Senior guard Tonton Balenga led four Marlins in double figures with 15 points as Virginia Wesleyan cruised to a 70-44 victory over Washington and Lee in ODAC men’s basketball action Sunday afternoon. In the opening minutes of the game, the Generals scored six unanswered-points, but never led again as the Marlins gained control and pushed out a 14-point (37-23) lead at the half. Virginia Wesleyan used a 13-0 run to take a 60-35 lead with 7:49 left in the contest en route to the 26-point victory. VWC shot 52.9 percent (9-17) from behind the arc and held an edge on the boards, out-rebounding the Generals, 36-28. The Blue and White (12-7,8-5) were led by senior forward Greg Bienemann, who notched 16 points. Junior guard Chris McHugh and junior forward Ben Heller registered seven points apiece. Balenga also grabbed five boards to go along with his 15 points, while senior forward Tyler Fantin registered 13 points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Terrell Dixon tallied 12 points and junior forward Norman Hassell chipped in 11 points.
LAST MEETING WITH EMORY & HENRY:
Washington and Lee senior forward Greg Bienemann and sophomore forward Zac White both tallied career-high point totals as the Generals defeated Emory & Henry, 115-106, in ODAC men’s basketball action at the King Center. The Generals shot 69.9 percent (51-73) from the floor in claiming their first win at Emory & Henry in 10 years. The first half featured five ties and four lead changes with the Wasps opening up the biggest advantage for either team when they led 25-17 with 11:30 left. However, W&L chipped away at the E&H advantage for the remainder of the half and cut it to a 54-52 Wasp lead at the break. The Generals opened the second stanza with an 8-0 run to assume a 60-54 lead with 18:54 remaining and never trailed again in the contest. W&L did not lead by more than 10 points in the final 20 minutes, but hit 7-of-8 from the foul line in the final 4:50 to hang on for the win. Bienemann led the Generals with a career-high 36 points on 16-of-23 shooting from the field. He also grabbed nine rebounds. White notched a career-best 26 points on 12-of-13 shooting from the floor, while senior forward Femi Kusimo posted 22 points on 10-of-11 shooting. He also totaled seven rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals. Emory & Henry wad led by junior guard Andrew Hart’s 23 points. Junior guard Camillo Weinz registered 19 points, while junior forward Kyle Huckins added 12 points.
SCOUTING EMORY & HENRY:
Emory & Henry is 6-15 overall and 2-12 in the ODAC following a 94-89 loss to Hampden-Sydney on Saturday afternoon. In the loss to the Tigers, junior guard Camillo Weinz paced five Wasps in double figures with 20 points. Junior forward Kyle Huckins tallied 16 points and seven rebounds, junior guard Robert Hudson notched 15 points, junior guard Jarell Christian logged 13 points and sophomore guard J.D. Dyson added 12 points and eight assists. For the year, the Wasps average an NCAA-best 108.3 points per game, but allow an NCAA-worst 116.8 points per contest. Weinz leads the team with an average of 15.3 points per game and is joined in double-figure scoring by Hudson (14.0 ppg), Huckins (12.0 ppg), Christian (11.0 ppg) and junior guard Josh Lee (10.7 ppg).
LAST MEETING WITH LYNCHBURG:
The Washington and Lee men’s basketball team shot 54.7 percent (29-53) from the floor and hit all 13 of its free throw attempts in defeating Lynchburg College, 77-62, in ODAC action at Turner Gymnasium. The Generals trailed 13-11 with 13:54 remaining in the opening stanza, but closed the half on a 26-9 run to assume a 37-22 lead at the break. Lynchburg began the second half with a 23-11 run to cut it to a three-point game (48-45) with 13:43 left, but a quick 10-0 run by W&L over the next 3:03 gave the Generals a 58-45 lead at the 8:56 mark in cruising to the 15-point victory. W&L racked up 22 assists to just 16 turnovers and held a 36-21 advantage on the boards. Senior forward Greg Bienemann led the Generals with 24 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, while senior forward Femi Kusimo notched 14 points and five boards. Sophomore forward Zac White added 11 points in just 15 minutes of action. The Hornets were paced by sophomore guard Steven Echols, who totaled 19 points, six steals and four assists. Sophomore forward Mason Wooldridge chipped in 17 points and five boards.
SCOUTING LYNCHBURG:
Lynchburg is 3-17 overall and 1-13 in the ODAC following a 103-53 loss to Guilford on Saturday afternoon. The Hornets will travel to Randolph on Wednesday for a non-conference tilt, before traveling to the Warner Center on Sunday. In the loss to Guilford, the Hornets allowed the Quakers to shoot 60.7 percent from the floor and were out-rebounded, 41-21. Sophomore forward Mason Wooldridge paced the Hornets with 18 points. Senior forward Evan Fancourt and sophomore guard Steven Echols added nine points each. For the season, Wooldridge leads LC with averages of 20.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Fancourt averages 9.4 points per game, while sophomore guard Jeff Langrock contributes 8.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest.
STRONG START = STRONG FINISH:
W&L is 20-1 in its last 21 games (11-1 this season) when leading at the break and has compiled a 54-24 (.692) record over the past 10 years when it leads at the break. W&L has won a total of 70 games during that stretch, meaning that the Generals have led at halftime in just over 77 percent of their wins during the last 10 years.
GIMME FIVE MORE -- MINUTES THAT IS:
W&L has been more than happy to win in regulation, but the Generals' two most significant victories this season have occurred in overtime. W&L broke a 43-game losing streak to Randolph-Macon earlier this season when it defeated the Yellow Jackets, 77-75, in overtime. The Generals also won their first game at Roanoke in 19 years when they downed the Maroons, 67-59, in overtime. W&L has played three overtime games this season and is 2-1 in those contests. The Generals opened the season with a 57-55 overtime loss to Drew University.
12 AND 8:
W&L's 12 wins this season are the program's most since going 12-14 during the 1990-91 season. Additionally, the Generals' eight ODAC victories are the most in a season since the 1989-90 team went 8-8 in conference play. With one more win, W&L can also guarantee itself of its first non-losing season since posting a 15-12 record during the 1989-90 campaign.
FABULOUS FEMI:
Senior forward Femi Kusimo has been the Generals' top shooter over the past four seasons. Kusimo is a career 59.9 percent (371-619) 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 11.5 points per game and he is shooting 62.5 percent from the floor. Kusimo has two games this season in which he has gone 10-for-11 from the field. Kusimo currently lays claim to 870 career points.
BIENEMANN MOVING UP THE CHARTS:
Senior forward Greg Bienemann has been having a season worthy of ODAC Player of the Year consideration and he currently leads the team in scoring (22.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.5 rpg) and is second in blocks (1.0 bpg) and field-goal percentage (.583). Bienemann claims 70 career double-digit scoring efforts, 24 games of at least 20 points and five games of at least 30 points. Bienemann had a streak of 24-straight games in double-figures snapped with an eight-point performance against Guilford last Wednesday. Twice this season he has totaled a career-high 36 points, doing so in wins over Emory & Henry and Eastern Mennonite, and he ranks in the Top 25 in Division III in scoring. With his 440 points this season, Bienemann has moved into ninth place on the Generals' all-time scoring list with 1,454 career points. He is just 55 points shy of surpassing Cam Dyer '96 for eighth place.
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. Greg Bienemann (2004-pr.), 1,454
10. John Lee Graves (1980-84), 1,441
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