Game 23 • W&L (6-16, 4-11) vs. Guilford (14-8, 10-5) • February 11, 2004 • 7:00 pm

Game 24 • W&L (6-16, 4-11) vs. Eastern Mennonite (4-18, 2-13) • February 14, 2004 • 7:00 pm

THE SERIES':
W&L and Guilford will be meeting for the 31st time, with the Quakers holding a 17-13 advantage in the all-time series. The Generals defeated Guilford in Greensboro, N.C., earlier this season by a 59-50 count. However, W&L has not defeated the Quakers in the Warner Center since a 73-67 win back on Jan. 4, 2000.

W&L and Eastern Mennonite will be meeting for the 65th time, with the Generals holding a 42-22 advantage in the all-time series. W&L defeated the Royals, 93-84, in the season's earlier meeting in the Warner Center. The Generals have won three-straight in the series.

UP NEXT:
W&L will end its regular season next week by hosting Bridgewater for a 7:00 pm game on Wednesday evening.

LAST TIME OUT:
Freshman guard Chris Halkitis scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Washington and Lee to a 49-44 win over Lynchburg on Sunday afternoon at the Warner Center. The Generals built a 27-20 halftime advantage and extended their lead to as many as 11 points on three occasions during the second stanza. W&L led 43-32 with 5:38 remaining in the game, but went cold and didn’t score again until Haliktis hit 1-of-2 free throws with 1:24 remaining to give the Generals a 44-40 advantage. Lynchburg, which forced 28 W&L turnovers, continued to chip away at the lead and cut it to one-point at 45-44 with 54 seconds remaining on a pair of foul shots by freshman guard Pete Manos. However, senior guard Michael Denbow and Halkitis combined to hit four foul shots in the final 18 seconds to ice the win. Sophomore forward David Will supplimented Halkitis’ effort with eight points. Senior forward Hamill Jones snared a game-high nine rebounds. The Hornets were led by Manos and sophomore guard Matthew Sweeney, who each scored 11 points.

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 37-83 (.308) overall record in five seasons as a head coach. Hutchinson is assisted by Ryan Kadlubowski (Rochester '03) and Curtis Buxton.
Guilford is led by first-year Head Coach Tom Polombo (Virginia Wesleyan '89). Polombo came to Guilford from Defiance College in Ohio where he produced a 100-63 overall record in six seasons. His career record stands at 114-71. Eastern Mennonite is also led by a first-year Head Coach in Kirby Dean (Eastern Mennonite '92), who is 4-18 in his first head coaching opportunity. Dean served as an assistant at VMI for eight seasons.

LAST MEETING WITH GUILFORD:
Washington and Lee allowed Guilford just six made field goals in the second half as the Generals defeated the Quakers, 59-50, in Greensboro, N.C. Sophomore forward Phil Landes led W&L with 15 points while freshman guard Chris Halkitis added 14 points in the victory. Guilford took a 33-25 lead into the half-time break, but saw its control of the game slip away in the second half. The Quakers held a 37-27 lead with 18:10 remaining, but a 16-3 run by the Generals gave W&L a 43-40 lead with 9:26 left to play. For the game, W&L shot 41.7 percent (20-for-48) while Guilford managed to connect on just 16-of-55 from the field (29.1%). Guilford was led by senior forward Josh Connor, who scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

SCOUTING GUILFORD:
Guilford is coming off a 109-67 win over Eastern Mennonite on Sunday in Greensboro. The Quakers shot 69.2 percent (27-39) from the field in the first half en route to a 69-31 halftime edge in cruising to the win. Sophomore forward Genaro Lawhorn led the way with 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting. Senior forward Jevon Clarke totaled 17 points, while senior guards Devon Clyburn and Eric Williams, and senior forward Thomas Swindell each recorded 12 points. Guilford, which has won eight of its last nine games, is led by Clarke, who averages 13.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Swindell posts averages of 11.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per outing, while Lawhorn and junior guard Clarence Martin average 10.3 and 10.2 points per game, respectively. Senior forward Josh Connor adds a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game.

LAST MEETING WITH EASTERN MENNONITE:
Freshman guard Chris Halkitis tallied a career-high 26 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to lead the Generals past Eastern Mennonite, 93-84 at the Warner Center. W&L built a 41-27 halftime lead and extended the lead to 18 points (77-59) with 5:26 remaining in the game. However, the Royals began to foul, sending the Generals to the line 24 times in the final 5:05 in an attempt to make a comeback. The strategy nearly worked as EMU cut the W&L lead to five points (87-82) with 28 seconds remaining, but the Generals hit six straight charity tosses in the last 26 seconds for the nine-point win. Junior guard Mike Stuart notched 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-6 from behind the arc. Sophomore forward David Will added 16 points and six rebounds. W&L shot a season-best 51.7 percent (30-58) from the field, including 9-of-17 (.529) from beyond the arc. Freshman guard Jason Sager paced five Royals in double-figures with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Junior forward E.J. Arrington added 17 points and 10 rebounds.

SCOUTING EASTERN MENNONITE:
Junior forward E.J. Arrington led the Royals against Guilford with 16 points, while freshman guard Jason Sager added 12 points. EMU shot just 25.7 percent in the first half of that contest. On the season, Sager leads the team with averages of 15.7 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Arrington averages 14.5 points and 6.3 boards per outing, while senior guard Mike Culen contributes 12.7 points per game. As a team, the Royals average 76.4 points per game, but allow an average of 92.3 points per contest. EMU also has trouble on the boards as they are being outrebounded by an average of 5.2 boards per game.

AT THE CHARITY STRIPE:
W&L's opponents have hit (313) nearly as many free throws as W&L has taken (329) this season. The Generals are averaging 20.1 fouls per game leading to their opponents have taken 161 more free throws (490 to 329).

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 32-15 (.681) when allowing its opponent 59 points or less, 4-4 this season.

STRONG START = STRONG FINISH:
A quick start has been imperative to the Generals winning games. Over the past six years, W&L is 29-16 (.644) when leading at the half. During that same stretch, W&L has won a total of 41 games, meaning that W&L has led at the break nearly 71 percent of its wins during the last six years.

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 51 three-point field goals and is shooting 42.9 percent (51-119) from beyond the arc. He has hit a three in 19 of the team's 22 games, but has gone cold recently, missing 23 of his last 30 attempts. However, not just a shooter, Halkitis leads the team in rebounding (4.6 rpg.) and steals (1.5 spg.) and is second in assists (2.0 apg.).

THREE MAN:
Junior guard Mike Stuart is a proven threat from beyond the three-point arc, hitting 98-of-279 (.351) career three-point attempts. His 98 made triples are seventh all-time at W&L and his 279 attempts rank sixth all-time. Stuart has hit 30-of-81 (.370) 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.

HELPING HAND:
Senior point guard Michael Denbow claims 48 assists this season to bring his career total to 245 dimes. Denbow can move into the top five in school history with three more assists.

RED HOT VS. EMU:
W&L's offense was red-hot against Eastern Mennonite earlier this season, scoring a season-high 93 points. The figure marked the most points scored by a W&L team in regulation time since posting 100 points in a 100-79 win over the Royals on Feb. 3, 1996. W&L shot a season-best 51.7 percent (30-58) from the floor and hit 52.9 percent (9-17) from three-point range.

ROYAL PAIN:
Sophomore forward David Will has been a royal pain to Eastern Mennonite. In three career games against the Royals, Will is averaging 16.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 53.7 percent (22-41) from the floor. Will registered career-highs in points (18) and rebounds (12) against Eastern Mennonite last Jan. 15 at EMU. He totaled a season-high 16 points and six boards in the earlier meeting this season.

SIMPLY JONES:
There's nothing flashy about Hamill Jones' name nor his game. However, keeping things simple have led Jones to a team-best .571 shooting percentage (40-70). Jones also holds the school's top single-game shooting performance, a 15-of-16 night against Emory & Henry on Jan. 23, 2002. Jones tallied a career-high 32 points that evening. Jones is averaging just 4.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game this season, but has been heating up since being reinserted into the starting lineup seven games ago. Over that stretch, he is averaging 6.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Over his last six contests, Jones is shooting .692 from the floor (18-26).

- GENERALS --