Washington and Lee University
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 71-148 (.324) overall record. He is assisted by Sean Grant (NYU '02).
UP NEXT:
The Generals will participate in the ODAC Men's Basketball Tournament held Feb. 29 - Mar. 2 at the Salem Civic Center.
THE SERIES':
W&L and Hampden-Sydney will be meeting for the 110th time and the Tigers claim a 68-41 series edge. W&L broke a string of 20-straight losses to H-SC earlier this season with a 66-51 win at the Warner Center. W&L and Guilford are meeting for the 39th time, with the Quakers holding a 24-14 lead in the all-time series. Guilford has won each of the past four meetings, including a 64-60 victory earlier this season in Greensboro, N.C. W&L and Bridgewater will be meeting for the 115th time, with the Generals holding a 70-44 advantage in the all-time series. W&L won this season's earlier meeting in Lexington, Va., 73-67.
LAST TIME OUT:
The Washington and Lee men’s basketball team claimed its first winning season in 18 years as it defeated Lynchburg College, 83-52, on Sunday afternoon at the Warner Center. W&L never trailed in the contest, shooting 61.9 percent (13-21) from the floor in the opening stanza en route to a 43-25 lead at the break. The Generals shot 56.3 percent (27-48) for the game and continued to pull away in the second half in posting their fifth-straight win over the Hornets. Junior guard Isaiah Goodman paced four Generals in double figures with 16 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor and 8-for-8 from the foul line. Senior forward Greg Bienemann totaled 11 points and five rebounds in just 18 minutes of action, while junior guard Chris McHugh and junior forward Ben Heller added 10 points each. Heller’s point total was a season-high. Lynchburg was led by sophomore forward Mason Wooldridge, who registered 11 points and eight rebounds.
LAST MEETING WITH HAMPDEN-SYDNEY:
Washington and Lee jumped out to an 18-8 lead in the opening 12:15 of the game and never trailed again in posting a 66-51 win over Hampden-Sydney at the Warner Center. The Generals led by 15 points (32-17) at the break and extended their advantage to as many as 19 points (44-25) with 15:24 left in the game. The Tigers chipped away at the W&L lead, eventually cutting it to a five-point contest (54-49) with 5:13 remaining, but the Generals closed on a 12-2 run to claim their first win over Hampden-Sydney since the 1997-98 season (20 games). Washington and Lee shot 56.0 percent (14-25) in the second half and 51.9 percent (27-52) for the game and was led by senior forward Greg Bienemann’s 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor. Senior forward Femi Kusimo chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds. Hampden-Sydney was led by sophomore guard Turner King, who registered 15 points and seven boards. Senior forward Troy Kaase added 12 points.
SCOUTING HAMPDEN-SYDNEY:
The Tigers are 12-10 overall and 6-9 in the ODAC following a 76-61 win at Roanoke on Sunday afternoon. H-SC shot 55.6 percent in the first half en route to a 45-34 lead at the break and was never challenged in the second half in posting the 15-point win. Sophomore guard Turner King led the Tigers with 19 points and five rebounds, while freshman guard Paul Matthews notched 12 points. Senior forward Troy Kaase chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds. For the season, King contributes 19.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest, while Kaase averages 15.3 points and 7.0 boards per game. Senior forward Drew Prehmus averages 12.0 points and 4.3 rebounds per game and has made a team-best 54 three-pointers.
LAST MEETING WITH GUILFORD:
The Washington and Lee men’s basketball team rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit to take the lead in the final minutes, but fell short against Guilford, falling 64-60 at the Ragan Brown Field House. The Generals shot just 33.3 percent (7-21) and committed 11 turnovers in the first half and Guilford entered the break with a 30-20 lead. The Quakers started the second half on a 6-0 run to push out to a 16-point lead (36-20) with 18:12 left in the game, but W&L chipped away and eventually assumed a 58-56 advantage on the three-pointer by junior forward Kirk Jones with 2:43 remaining in the game. However, Guilford senior center Ben Strong took over down the stretch to lead the Quakers to their seventh-straight win. Strong tied the game at 58-58 on a jumper with 2:23 left, hit four free throws in the final 57 seconds and blocked a pair of W&L three-point attempts that could have tied the game in the final 10 seconds to preserve the win. Jones led W&L with a season-high 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from three-point range. Junior guard Chris McHugh tallied 14 points, while senior forward Femi Kusimo notched 11 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds. Senior forward Greg Bienemann was shackled with foul trouble, scoring a season-low eight points before fouling out with 5:47 left in the game. Strong paced the Quakers with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Senior forward Eric Belkoski posted 12 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore guard Clay Henson added 10 points.
SCOUTING GUILFORD:
The Quakers are 19-4 overall and 14-2 in the ODAC following a 100-93 win over Eastern Mennonite on Sunday afternoon. The Quakers shot 59.7 percent (37-62) from the floor and held a 34-26 advantage on the boards in posting the win. Senior center Ben Strong led GC with 39 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore guard Clay Henson and sophomore center Tyler Sanborn both posted 13 points. Senior forward Eric Belkoski added 12 points and seven assists. For the season, Strong leads the ODAC in scoring (26.2 ppg), rebounding (10.7 rpg) and blocks (2.26 bpg). Henson averages 13.3 points per game and has hit a team-best 60 three-pointers, while Belkoski contributes 10.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per outing.
LAST MEETING WITH BRIDGEWATER:
The Washington and Lee men’s basketball team shot 59.6 percent from the floor en route to posting a 73-67 victory over Bridgewater at the Warner Center. The two teams played nearly even through the opening 20 minutes and W&L carried a 33-30 lead into the halftime break. The Generals opened the second half with a 14-4 run over the opening 6:05 for a 47-34 lead with 13:32 remaining in the game. The Eagles then used a 13-2 run midway through the second half to cut it to a three-point game (56-53) with 7:05 left, but could never take the lead as the Generals shot 60.0 percent from the floor in the second half. W&L hit 28-of-47 shots from the floor for the game and held a 28-23 advantage on the boards. Washington and Lee was paced by senior forward Greg Bienemann, who notched 16 points and 11 rebounds. Senior forward Femi Kusimo registered 14 points, while sophomore forward Zac White added nine points. Bridgewater was led by junior forward Michael Oblitey and sophomore guard Dominic Trawick, who totaled 18 points each. Senior forward Josh Fox chipped in 14 points.
SCOUTING BRIDGEWATER:
The Eagles are 13-10 overall and 7-8 in the ODAC following a 103-90 victory over Emory & Henry on Sunday. The Eagles travel to Roanoke on Wednesday, before hosting the Generals on Saturday. Against E&H, the Eagles shot 73.3 percent (44-60) from the floor and held a 49-29 edge on the boards. Junior forward Michael Oblitey paced six Eagles in double figures with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Senior forward Justin Reavis notched 18 points, while sophomore guard Dominic Trawick tallied 16 points and 11 assists. For the season, Trawick averages 16.1 points per game, while Oblitey notches 13.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest.
STRONG START = STRONG FINISH:
W&L is 22-1 in its last 23 games (13-1 this season) when leading at the break and has compiled a 56-24 (.700) record over the past 10 years when it leads at the break. W&L has won a total of 72 games during that stretch, meaning that the Generals have led at halftime in nearly 78 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.
14 AND 10:
W&L's 14 wins this season assure it of the program's first winning season in 18 years and are the most wins in a season since going 15-12 in 1989-90. The 10 ODAC victories are also the most conference wins since the 1988-89 team went 10-2 in ODAC play. The most ODAC wins in a season by a W&L team were 11 conference victories set by the 1981-82 team (11-3).
BEEN A WHILE:
W&L is coming off a 31-point victory (83-52) over Lynchburg on Sunday -- the Generals first win by 30 or more points since posting a 30-point win over Virginia Wesleyan on Feb. 2, 1991.
HOT SHOOTING:
W&L leads the ODAC and ranks among the national leaders with a .494 shooting percentage (594-1203) for the season. The Generals have shot 50 percent or better from the field in 11 games, going 10-1 overall in those contests. The lone setback was a 76-72 loss at Emory University when W&L shot 50.9 percent. W&L is coming off of two-straight games in which it shot better than 50 percent from the field. The Generals hit 41-of-63 (.651) in a 98-81 win over Emory & Henry and 27-of-48 (.563) in the win over Lynchburg.
BOTH ENDS:
The Generals have performed well statistically on both ends of the floor this season. W&L ranks second in the ODAC in scoring defense (66.4 ppg) and fourth in field goal percentage defense (.415).
FABULOUS FEMI:
Senior forward Femi Kusimo has been the Generals' top shooter over the past four seasons. Kusimo is a career 59.8 percent (378-632) 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 61.8 percent (107-173) from the floor. He has two games this season in which he has gone 10-for-11 from the field. Kusimo has played in 84 career games and has scored 884 points, an average of 10.5 points per game.
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 (22.2 ppg) and rebounding (7.4 rpg) and is second in blocks (0.9 bpg) and field-goal percentage (.605). Bienemann claims 72 career double-digit scoring efforts, 25 games of at least 20 points and six games of at least 30 points. He has also scored in double figures in 26 of his last 27 games. Bienemann had a career-best 37-point effort in a 98-81 win over Emory & Henry on Wednesday, his fourth game this season of 30 or more points. With his 488 points this season, Bienemann has moved into ninth place on the Generals' all-time scoring list with 1,502 career points. He is just seven points shy of surpassing Cam Dyer '96 for eighth place and only 22 points away from passing Chris Jacobs '91 for seventh 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.), 1,502
10. John Lee Graves (1980-84), 1,441
--GENERALS--