Game 20 • W&L (5-14, 3-9) vs. Emory & Henry (10-9, 5-7) • February 4, 2004 • 7:00 pm

THE SERIES:
W&L and Emory & Henry will be meeting for the 83rd time with the Generals holding a 51-31 advantage in the all-time series. E&H has won three straight in the series, including a 76-66 win earlier this season in Emory, Va. W&L has taken four of the last five against the Wasps at home.

UP NEXT:
W&L travels to Hampden-Sydney on Saturday for a 2:00 pm contest before returning home to face Lynchburg on Sunday at 3:00 pm.

LAST TIME OUT:
Washington and Lee ended a string of 19 consecutive losses to Roanoke with a 52-43 win over the Maroons on Sunday evening at the Warner Center. The Generals ended the streak with defense, allowing the Maroons their lowest offensive output since W&L defeated Roanoke, 44-42, on Jan. 16, 1986. Roanoke shot just 28.3 percent (15-53) for the game. The first half featured five ties and six lead changes as the teams went to the half tied at 22-22. Roanoke began the second stanza with a quick 7-0 run to assume a 29-22 lead with 18:06 remaining. However, after that point, the Generals went on a 23-8 run to build an eight-point lead (45-37) with 3:47 left. The Maroons closed to within two points (45-43) on a three-pointer by senior forward Jason Graffam with 1:04 remaining, but a three-pointer by W&L junior guard Mike Stuart with 33 seconds remaining sealed the win. W&L hit all four of its free throws in the final 20 seconds and walked away with its first victory over the Maroons since 1995. Sophomore forward Phil Landes and freshman forward Alex White led the Generals with 10 points each. Roanoke was paced by senior center Kevinn Hunter, who tallied 15 points. Graffam added 14 points and seven rebounds.

THE HEAD GENERAL:
Adam Hutchinson (Amherst '93) is in his first season as the head coach at Washington and Lee. Hutchinson came to W&L from Case Western Reserve University, where he posted a 14-36 record in two seasons. Hutchinson also served as the head coach at Steven's Tech for two seasons and claims a 36-81 (.308) overall record in five seasons as a head coach. Hutchinson is assisted by Ryan Kadlubowski (Rochester '03) and Curtis Buxton. Emory & Henry is led by 24th-year Head Coach Bob Johnson (Dickinson '68). Johnson is 325-295 (.524) in his coaching career, all at E&H.

LAST MEETING WITH EMORY & HENRY:
Emory & Henry used a 17-0 second-half run to defeat Washington and Lee, 76-66 in Emory, Va. A 12-0 run by the Generals midway through the first half gave W&L a 21-12 lead with 9:49 remaining in the opening stanza. Sophomore forward Phil Landes accounted for all 12 points on four straight three-pointers. W&L maintained the lead and entered the break with a 36-26 advantage after hitting 10-of-14 three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. However, with the Generals leading 49-38 at the 11:40 mark of the second half, the Wasps went on their 17-point run over the next 5:25 to assume a 55-49 lead which they would not relinquish. Landes led W&L with a career-high 19 points on 5-of-5 shooting from behind the three-point arc. Freshman guard Chris Halkitis tallied 18 points, while junior guard Mike Stuart added 12 points. The Generals shot just 35.7 percent (10-28) in the second half and committed 23 turnovers for the game. Senior guard Justin Call led Emory & Henry with 19 points. The Wasps shot 56.0 percent (14-25) in the second half and committed just 13 turnovers in the contest.

SCOUTING EMORY & HENRY:
Emory & Henry has dropped two straight, including a 103-79 loss at Virginia Wesleyan on Sunday afternoon. The Wasps allowed the Marlins to shoot 56.5 percent from the floor and were outrebounded 47-24 for the game. Senior guard Justin Call led E&H with 19 points, while freshman guard Korey Townsend added 14 points. For the season, Emory & Henry is led by Call, who averages a league-best 23.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Call shoots 46.9 percent from the floor and 85.5 percent from the foul line. Junior guard Ben Fisher averages 11.9 points and an ODAC-high 7.3 assists per game, while sophomore guard Gary Kerns is contributing 11.0 points per game. The Wasps average 81.3 points per game, but are allowing 81.9 points per outing. E&H shoots 44.9 percent from the floor, 32.8 percent from three and 72.2 percent from the foul line.

AT THE CHARITY STRIPE:
W&L's opponents have hit (280) nearly as many free throws as W&L has taken (286) this season. The Generals are averaging 20.4 fouls per game leading to their opponents have taken 148 more free throws (434 to 286).

HOME SWEET HOME:
After playing eight of its first 11 games on the road to begin the season, W&L is enjoying the comforts of the Warner Center. W&L has played each of its last four games at home and will host an opponent in four of its final six games. The Generals are 4-5 at home this season.

DEAD-EYE:
Freshman guard Chris Halkitis has been a "dead-eye" shooter from three-point range in his rookie season. Halkitis has hit a team-best 44 three-point field goals and is shooting 44.0 percent (44-100) from beyond the arc. He has hit a three in 16 of the team's 19 games, but has gone cold recently, missing each of his last 11 three-point attempts. However, not just a shooter, Halkitis leads the team in rebounding (4.6 rpg.) and steals (1.4 spg.) and is second in assists (2.1 apg.). Halkitis dished out a career-high six assists with just one turnover in Sunday's win over Roanoke.

KEEP EM' UNDER 60:
Defense does win games as evidenced by W&L's record in low-scoring games. During the last seven seasons, W&L is 31-14 (.689) when allowing its opponent 59 points or less, 3-3 this season.

THREE MAN:
Junior guard Mike Stuart is a proven threat from beyond the three-point arc, hitting 97-of-273 (.355) career three-point attempts. His 97 made triples are seventh all-time at W&L and his 273 attempts are tied for sixth all-time. Stuart has hit 29-of-75 (.387) three-point attempts this season. He has twice tied the W&L record for three-pointers in a game, hitting seven against Eastern Mennonite as a freshman and again earlier this season at Lynchburg.

STRONG START = STRONG FINISH:
A quick start has been imperative to the Generals winning games. Over the past six years, W&L is 28-15 (.651) when leading at the half. During that same stretch, W&L has won a total of 40 games, meaning that W&L has led at the break in 70 percent of its wins during the last six years. However, W&L has lost three of its last four games when leading at the break and two of W&L's five wins this season have come when trailing at the half.

AT HOME AGAINST THE WASPS:
W&L has won four of its last five home games against the Wasps. W&L led those games by an average of 9.0 points at the break. The wins came not as a result of the Generals' offense, rather defense. In those five games, Emory is shooting just 39.1 percent (111-284) from the field, 25.6 percent (21-82) from three-point range and 60.4 percent (58-96) from the free throw line. The Generals also have outrebounded E&H by an average of 8.2 boards per game during that stretch. Take away the Wasps win last season and those figures would drop to 37.2 percent from the field and 15.9 percent from the three-point arc. E&H shot 47.2 percent from the floor and 57.9 percent from the arc in last season's contest at the Warner Center. Call led the charge by scoring 46 points in the game.

HELPING HAND:
Senior point guard Michael Denbow claims 45 assists and just 27 turnovers this season. He has played in 90 games during his career, totaling 242 assists. Denbow can climb into the top five in school history in assists with six more dimes.

PHILLING IT UP:
Sophomore forward Phil Landes has come into his own, averaging 6.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game this season. He is shooting 43.2 percent (41-95) from the floor and 43.8 percent (14-32) from three-point range. Landes has been heating up of late, tallying a new career high in two of his last five games. Landes notched 19 points on 5-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc in a loss at Emory & Henry on Jan. 21 and then notched 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor in a win over Averett last Wednesday. Landes loves playing on Wednesdays, averaging 11.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game while shooting 70.4 percent (19-27) from the floor and 81.8 percent (9-11) from three-point range.

ALL ABOUT THE BENCH:
W&L received a season-high 53 points from its bench in last Wednesday's win over Averett. Thus far, W&L is averaging 33.0 points per game from its bench in five wins and just 23.1 points per game from its bench in 14 losses.

-- GENERALS --