Washington and Lee University
THE HEAD GENERAL:
Adam Hutchinson (Amherst '93) is in his fourth season as the head coach at Washington and Lee. In his eight seasons as a head coach, Hutchinson claims a 58-143 (.289) overall record. He is assisted by Sean Grant (NYU '02).
THE SERIES':
W&L and Randolph-Macon will be meeting for the 70th time, with the Yellow Jackets claiming a 57-12 series advantage. R-MC has won each of the last 43 meetings dating back to Feb. 9, 1977 when the Generals defeated the Yellow Jackets, 75-73, at the Warner Center. W&L and Virginia Wesleyan will be meeting for the 42nd time, with the Marlins holding a 31-10 advantage in the all-time series. The Marlins have won each of the last 12 meetings dating back to a 57-55 W&L win on Dec. 2, 2001.
LAST TIME OUT:
The W&L men’s basketball team jumped out to a 22-6 lead in the opening 9:31 of the game and cruised to a 70-52 victory over Dickinson on Saturday afternoon at the Warner Center. The Generals began the game by hitting 12 of their first 15 shots from the floor and finished the opening 20 minutes with a 35-15 lead. DC chipped away at W&L’s lead early in the second stanza, cutting it to a 12-point game (49-37) with 11:36 left, but the Generals pushed their advantage back to as many as 24 points (70-46) in claiming their first victory of the season. W&L was led by senior forward Greg Bienemann, who tallied a season-high 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field. Junior guard Isaiah Goodman totaled 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, while junior forward Kirk Jones added 10 points.
LAST MEETING WITH RANDOLPH-MACON:
Randolph-Macon handed W&L its second-straight loss by a single point when it defeated the Generals, 64-63, on Feb. 3 at the Warner Center. The Yellow Jackets led 35-31 at the half and extended their advantage to 13 points (56-43) with 10:17 left in the game. However, the Generals went on a 16-3 run over the next 6:56 to tie the game at 59-59 with 3:21 remaining. R-MC took a three-point advantage (64-61) on a jumper by guard Justin Short with 1:05 left, but a pair of free throws by W&L senior forward Alex White sliced it to a 64-63 game with 43 seconds left. W&L guard Isaiah Goodman drew a charge on Short with 11 seconds remaining to give the Generals a chance to win on the final possession. W&L missed a pair of contested layups in the final four seconds and the Yellow Jackets walked away with their 43rd-straight victory over the Generals. Washington and Lee was led by forward Femi Kusimo, who totaled 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor. Guard Chris McHugh tied his season-high with 12 points, while senior guard Chris Halkitis also chipped in 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range. Randolph-Macon was paced by senior forward Phil Hawley’s 18 points. Guard David Carlson notched 13 points and seven rebounds, while forward Boris Varela registered 11 points.
LAST MEETING WITH VIRGINIA WESLEYAN:
Top-seeded Virginia Wesleyan used a 25-4 second-half run to cruise to an 82-48 victory over Washington and Lee in the quarterfinals of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament at the Salem Civic Center Feb. 22. In the loss, forward Greg Bienemann notched 16 points and in the process became the first General since Cam Dyer ‘96 to score 1,000 career points. Virginia Wesleyan opened the game with seven unanswered points and pushed the lead to 12 points (22-10) with 11:20 to play in the first half. The Generals cut the lead to seven points (24-17) with 5:47 remaining before the break, but the Marlins pulled away and held a 15-point (39-25) advantage at halftime. The Marlins used the aforementioned run to take a 64-28 lead with 11:17 remaining in the contest en route to the 36-point victory. VWC shot 56.7 percent (34-60) from the floor and 58.8 percent from downtown (10-17). The Marlins also held the edge on the boards, out-rebounding the Generals, 40-26. W&L was paced by Bienemann’s 16 points and 13 rebounds. Forward Ben Heller added seven points and three steals. The Marlins were led by senior forward Brandon Adair and guard Ton Ton Balenga, who each notched 15 points. Adair shot 7-of-9 from the floor, while Balenga hit 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Guards D’Juan Tucker and Stephen Fields also tallied double-figures for VWC, registering 10 markers apiece.
SCOUTING RANDOLPH-MACON:
Randolph-Macon is 1-1 overall after splitting a pair of games in the Albright tip-off tournament on Nov. 16-17. The Yellow Jackets fell to John Carroll, 68-66, before defeating Pitt-Greensburg in the consolation game, 75-47. In the win over UPG, Macon was led by junior guard Justin Short, who tallied 13 points, five rebounds and four assists. Freshman forward Danny Jones notched 12 points, while junior guard David Carlson added nine points and five boards. As a team, R-MC shot 50.9 percent from the floor and held a 48-36 advantage on the glass. Through two games, Carlson leads the team in scoring with an average of 15.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Short averages 10.5 points and 4.0 assists per game, while Jones contributes 7.5 points per outing. Senior forward Jeremy Dixon added 7.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game and shoots 53.8 percent from the floor.
SCOUTING VIRGINIA WESLEYAN:
The Marlins are 3-0 on the season following wins over Apprentice (74-70), N.C. Wesleyan (83-60) and Christopher Newport (88-79). VWC is ranked fifth in the preseason Division III poll and is coming off a runner-up finish at the 2007 Division III Championships and the 2006 national title. In its win over CNU on Nov. 20, VWC was led by senior All-America guard Ton Ton Balenga, who totaled 29 points on 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Senior forward Tyler Fantin notched 12 points and six boards, while junior guard Terrell Dixon notched 11 points and seven assists. Senior guard D'Juan Tucker, sophomore guard Stephen Fields and freshman forward Julius Carlton each chipped in nine points. For the season, Balenga is averaging 22.3 points per game and has nailed 12-of-26 (.462) three-point attempts. Dixon and Fields both average 11.3 points per game, while junior forward Norman Hassell and Fantin contribute 11.0 and 10.7 points per game, respectively.
STRONG START = STRONG FINISH:
W&L is 11-1 in its last 12 games when leading at the break and has compiled a 45-24 (.652) record over the past 10 years when it leads at the break. W&L has won a total of 60 games during that stretch, meaning that the Generals have led at halftime in 75 percent of their wins during the last 10 years.
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR:
With its 76-72 loss at Emory, the Generals suffered their third defeat by five points or less. W&L's three losses this season have come by a combined total of 11 points (or an average of 3.67 points per game). Dating back to the beginning of the 2006-07 season, the Generals have a total of 17 losses, 10 of which were by six points or less.
BIENEMANN THE BETTER MAN:
Senior forward Greg Bienemann has been named the ODAC Player of the Week after averaging 22.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 blocks per game last week. He totaled 24 points in a win over previously unbeaten Dickinson on Sunday and had 21 points in a loss at Emory on Tuesday. With those two contests, Bienemann now claims 55 career double-digit scoring efforts and 14 games of at least 20 points. With his 77 points this season, Bienemann has moved into 18th place on the Generals' all-time scoring list with 1,067 career points. A First Team All-ODAC selection last season, Bienemann can climb to 17th place with 30 more points. For the season, he is averaging 19.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and is shooting 50.0 percent from the floor.
IT'S ALL GOOD:
Junior guard Isaiah Goodman is off to a hot-shooting start for the Generals. Through four games, he is hitting 65.0 percent (13-20) from the floor and has nailed 3-of-5 (.600) three-point attempts. Goodman is currently second on the team in scoring, averaging 9.3 points per game.
SPEAKING OF SHOOTING:
Goodman may be the one of fire from the floor, but senior forward Femi Kusimo has been the Generals' top shooter over the past four seasons. Kusimo is a career 58.8 percent (287-488) 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 tied for third on the team in scoring with an average of 9.0 points per game and he is shooting 55.2 percent from the floor. He currently claims 676 career points.
SIMPLY JONES:
Junior forward Kirk Jones may be the forgotten man in the Generals' starting lineup due to his simple (not flashy) game or simple name, but that doesn't mean his contribution is not felt by the team. Jones is currently tied for the team-lead in steals (6), has a team-best eight three-pointers and is tied for third on the team in scoring (9.0 ppg) and rebounding (3.3 rpg). He shoots 44.8 percent (13-29) from the floor and 42.1 percent (8-19) from the three-point line. Jones averaged 6.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game last season.
NEAR MISSES:
The Generals losing streak to Randolph-Macon has begun to take on a life of its own, but W&L has had its share of chances to end the streak over recent seasons. W&L dropped a pair of games to the Yellow Jackets last season by a grand total of six points, falling 63-58 at R-MC on Dec. 2 and then dropping a 64-63 decision at home on Feb. 3. Listed below are six games over the past seven seasons in which the Generals fell to the Yellow Jackets by six points or less.
63-58 at R-MC (12/2/06)
64-63 at W&L (2/3/07)
71-67 (OT) at R-MC (1/22/06)
63-58 at R-MC (12/4/04)
66-61 at W&L (1/25/04)
76-70 (OT) at W&L (2/7/00)
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