Washington and Lee University
LEXINGTON, Va. -- Washington and Lee and Ferrum both advanced to the championship game of the W&L Men’s Basketball Tournament held at the Warner Center on Sunday afternoon. The Generals downed Thomas More in the opener by a score of 77-54, while the Panthers held off Rhodes in the nightcap, 75-55.
In the opener, the Generals (3-4) used a balanced scoring effort and jumped out to a 19-7 lead in the opening 8:59 en route to the 23-point win. Sophomore forward Zac White (Baltimore, Md./Park School) paced four Generals in double figures as he tied a career-high with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor. Senior forward Greg Bienemann (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) tallied a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while junior guard Chris McHugh (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) totaled a career-high 14 points. Senior forward Femi Kusimo (Cross Lanes, W.Va./Charleston Catholic) added 11 points and junior guard Isaiah Goodman (Richfield, Minn./Holy Angels) chipped in nine points and five boards.
Thomas More (5-5) was led by junior guard Matty Owens’ (Mason, Ohio/Mason) nine points and five rebounds. Junior forward Matt Tierney (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) contributed eight points and five boards as well.
In the second game, Ferrum (5-4) held Rhodes (5-4) to just 29.5 percent shooting (18-61) from the floor en route to a 75-55 victory. The Panthers closed the first half on a 22-11 run over the final 9:40 to assume a 41-24 lead at the break. Rhodes used a 17-4 run over the first 8:56 of the second half to slice it to a seven-point game (48-41) with 11:04 left, but the Panthers quickly stretched their lead back to double-digits in claiming the 20-point win.
Senior forward Jon Godsey (Gladys, Va./William Campbell) led the way for Ferrum with 15 points, while freshman forward Derek Mitchell (Newport News, Va./Heritage) posted 11 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore guard Keith Crump (Richmond, Va./Varina) added 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor.
Rhodes was paced by junior guard Cory Smith’s (Bartlett, Tenn./Bartlett) 14 points and six rebounds. Sophomore forward Reid Hamilton (Birmingham, Ala./Mountain Brook) notched 11 points and six boards, while senior forward Justin Long (Little Rock, Ark./Pulaski Academy) chipped in seven points and 12 rebounds.
W&L and Ferrum will meet in Monday’s championship game at 4:00 pm, while Thomas More and Rhodes will square off in the consolation contest at 2:00 pm.
~ Generals ~
