GAME NO. 24

W&L (7-16, 4-23) vs. Bridgewater (16-8, 10-7)
February 12, 2002 • Lexington, Va. • 7:00 pm

SERIES NOTES:
W&L and Bridgewater have met 105 times over the years with the Generals holding a 71-34 advantage in the series that began during the 1918-19 season. The Eagles have won six of the last seven meetings, including a 77-55 win earlier this season in Bridgewater, Va. The Eagles have won two of the last three meetings in Lexington, but have averaged just 58 points per game during that stretch.

LAST MEETING WITH BC (BC 77, W&L 55; DEC. 5, 2002; BRIDGEWATER, VA):
Bridgewater shot 15-of-22 (.682) from the field in the second half and erupted for 52 points in the final 20 minutes to defeat Washington and Lee, 77-55. The Generals fell behind 6-0 just three minutes into the game, but fought back to take a 10-6 lead on a jumper from freshman guard Holton Freeman with 13:33 to play. Freeman would score the first 10 points for the Generals. W&L grabbed its biggest lead of the game (23-19) with 1:54 left in the first half on a layup by freshman center Mark Franceski, but found itself trailing 25-23 at halftime as Bridgewater’s Brett Childers nailed a three-pointer with 34 seconds left. W&L freshman forward Mike Stuart knotted the game at 25-25 when he began the second half with a jumper. However, that is as close as the Generals would get as the Eagles used a 20-5 run over the next 10 minutes to open up a 45-30 lead with 11:17 to play. The Generals were led by Freeman, who tallied a career-high 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Junior guard John Warren was the only other General to record double figures with 11 points. Bridgewater was led by Kyle Williford who scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

LAST TIME OUT:
Eastern Mennonite’s David Bell connected on 7-of-15 shots for 22 points to help lead the Royals to an 86-68 victory over Washington and Lee. The Royals raced to a 17-4 lead in the game’s first eight minutes en route to taking a 34-21 lead at halftime. The EMU lead grew to as many as 20 points in the first three minutes of the second half. However, the Generals went on a 13-4 run midway through the second half to cut the lead to 11 points. But that was as close as W&L would get the remainder of the evening. W&L was led by junior guard John Warren, who tallied 14 points. Freshman forward Mike Stuart also reached double figures with 13 points. Besides Bell, four other Royals scored in double figures. E.J. Arrington and Michael Swartley each notched 15 points. Arrington grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, while Swartley added 10. Ben Bowman and Marcus Harris each tallied 10 points for the victors.

UP NEXT FOR W&L:
On Saturday at 1:00 pm, the Generals will take on top-seeded Randolph-Macon in the opening round of the ODAC Tournament at the Salem Civic Center.

THE HEAD COACHES:
Jeff Lafave (Southern Connecticut St. '92) is in his third season as the head coach at W&L. Lafave posted a 9-16 overall mark in his first season and led the Generals to their first ODAC Tournament win since the 1989-90 season. He is 20-52 (.278) overall, 1-6 against Bridgewater. Lafave is assisted by Doug Stewart (Brown '94) and Barry Machado (Dartmouth '66). Bridgewater is led by 17th-year head coach Bill Leatherman (Milligan '66). He is 258-179 (.590) for his career at Bridgewater, 21-13 against W&L.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES:
Bridgewater is 16-8 overall, 10-7 in the ODAC and is coming off a 76-71 loss to Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles shot 50.0 percent from the floor, but could not overcome surrendering 14 offensive rebounds to the Marlins. Senior forward Kyle Williford led the Eagles with 24 points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Brett Childers tallied 15 points, while sophomore guard C.W. Durrette recorded 11 points and five assists. On the season, Bridgewater is paced by Williford, who ranks third in Division III in scoring with an average of 24.5 points per game. He also averages 8.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 blocks per game. Childers averages 11.0 points and 2.0 assists per game, while senior guard Matt Stevens claims 9.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest. The Eagles rank 25th nationally in field goal percentage (.483) and shoot 36.1 percent from three-point land.

KEEP EM' UNDER 60:
Washington and Lee has been known in recent years for its slow the pace style of play and it has been successful. During the last five seasons, W&L is 24-9 (.727) when allowing its opponent 59 points or less, 5-0 this season.

TALE OF TWO HALVES:
The Generals have had trouble splicing together two good halves of basketball this season with the second half proving more difficult than the first. W&L has led or been tied at the half in seven of its last eight contests only to see the lead slip away at some point during the final 20 minutes. In four of those games, W&L held double-digit leads. On the season, W&L is being outscored by only 24 points in the first half of play, but is being outscored by 138 points in the second stanza.

BY COMMITTEE:
W&L's scoring has come by committee this season as nine different players have led the team in scoring. Freshman forward Mike Stuart claims the highest point total with 33 markers against Eastern Mennonite.

DROPPIN' DIMES:
Sophomore guard Michael Denbow is tied for seventh in the ODAC in assists (3.0 apg) and recently surpassed a career milestone in that department. Denbow now claims 114 career assists, 69 of which have come this season. In Thursday's win over Mary Washington, Denbow dropped a career-high nine dimes with just one turnover.

FREE THROW WOES:
The Generals have been struggling from the foul line this season, making just 58.2 percent (274-471) of their charity tosses. To make matters worse, W&L has sent its opponents to the line 575 times in 23 games (25.0 attempts per game) and they have hit 68.9 percent. Overall, the Generals have been outscored by 122 points on the free throw line.

HOW ABOUT THAT!:
Sophomore forward Hamill Jones had a career game at Emory & Henry on Jan. 23. Jones destroyed his previous career-high performance (10) by tallying 32 points against the Wasps. In that game, he went 15-of-16 (.938) from the field, setting a new school record for field goal percentage in a game.

TOP GAME -- EVER:
Freshman forward Mike Stuart had the finest game ever by a first-year W&L player as he tallied 33 points in the Generals' first meeting with EMU. Stuart was 11-of-16 from the floor, including 7-of-10 shooting from beyond the three-point arc. His seven three's tied the school record for three's in a game held by three others.

COMMA KIDS:
The 2001-02 W&L men's basketball team can now be referred to as the comma kids. The Generals finally acheived the comma associated with the 1,000th win in school history with a 62-60 win over E&H on Jan. 30. W&L's all-time record now stands at 1,002-955-1 over 96 seasons of basketball. Only a total of 50 schools currently competing in Division III can boast 1,000 wins. Among ODAC schools, only Randolph-Macon, Roanoke and Hampden-Sydney have more victories than W&L.

ODAC TOURNAMENT UPDATE:
Here are the scenarios for the ODAC Tournament which will be held Feb. 16-18 at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va. Randolph-Macon will be the top seed. Hampden-Sydney and Virginia Wesleyan will comprise the second and third seeds based upon who wins their meeting on Tuesday evening in Norfolk, Va. If Roanoke beats Eastern Mennonite and Bridgewater beats W&L or if Roanoke and Bridgewater both lose, then Bridgewater would be the No. 4 seed and Roanoke would be the No. 5 seed. Guilford will be the No. 6 seed and Emory & Henry will be the No. 7 seed. They will face either Hampden-Sydney or Virginia Wesleyan. The Generals are the No. 8 seed and will face Randolph-Macon. Below are the pairings:

Sat., Feb. 16; 1:00 pm
#1 Randolph-Macon vs. # 8 Washington and Lee

Sat., Feb. 16; 3:00 pm
#4/5 Bridgewater vs. #4/5 Roanoke

Sat., Feb. 16; 6:00 pm
#2 Hampden-Sydney/Virginia Wesleyan vs. #7 Emory & Henry

Sat., Feb. 16; 8:00 pm
#3 Hampden-Sydney/Virginia Wesleyan vs. #6 Guilford

Sun., Feb. 17; 2:00 pm
1-8 winner vs. 4-5 winner

Sun., Feb. 17; 4:00 pm
2-7 winner vs. 3-6 winner

Mon., Feb. 18; 7:00 pm
Championship Game

-- GENERALS --