Game 25 • W&L (7-17, 5-12) vs. Bridgewater (12-12, 6-11) • February 17, 2004 • 7:00 pm

THE SERIES:
W&L and Bridgewater will be meeting for the 107th time, with the Generals holding a 68-38 advantage in the all-time series. Bridgewater has won seven straight in the series, dating back to a 55-50 W&L win in the first round of the 2000 ODAC Tournament. BC defeated the Generals, 66-51, back on Dec. 10 in Bridgewater, Va. W&L's 68 wins against Bridgewater are the most against any opponent all-time.

UP NEXT:
Should the Generals qualify for the ODAC Tournament, they would play on Saturday in the Salem Civic Center. If W&L is the No.8 seed, it would play at 1:00 pm. A No. 7 seeding would have W&L playing at 6:00 pm.

LAST TIME OUT:
Washington and Lee used a 10-2 run in the second half to recover from a 34-29 halftime deficit and defeat Eastern Mennonite, 76-69, in ODAC men’s basketball action on Saturday evening. Trailing 39-34 with 16:48 remaining, W&L used its 10-2 run over the next 2:27 to take a 44-41 lead with 14:21 left in the game. In the final 1:21 of the game W&L used an 11-for-14 showing from the foul line to outpace the Royals and secure the 76-69 decision. Washington and Lee connected on 25-of-50 (50.0%) from the field for the game, including 15-of-27 (55.6%) in the second half. Eastern Mennonite managed just 10-of-33 (33.3%) shooting in the second half. Junior guard Mike Stuart led the Generals with 15 points, while freshman guard Coleman Lyons added 11 points. Sophomore forward David Will rounded out the W&L leaders with 10 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Eastern Mennonite freshman guard Jason Sager led all scorers with 27 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Junior forward E.J. Arrington contributed 17 points in the losing effort.

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 38-84 (.311) overall record in five seasons as a head coach. Hutchinson is assisted by Ryan Kadlubowski (Rochester '03) and Curtis Buxton. Bridgewater is led by 19th-year Head Coach Bill Leatherman (Milligan '66), who is 285-206 (.580) all-time with the Eagles.

LAST MEETING WITH BRIDGEWATER:
Bridgewater used a 12-3 run in the first half and a 22-6 run in the second half as the Eagles subdued Washington and Lee, 66-51 in Bridgewater, Va. With the scoreboard notched 19-17 in Bridgewater’s favor at 7:16 in the first half, the Eagles exploded to outscore the Generals across the next 4:37 to give themselves a 31-20 lead with 2:39 remaining before the break. Washington and Lee managed two more points before halftime and started the second stanza down, 31-22. The game remained close until Bridgewater managed a 22-6 game-deciding run from 14:07 to 5:57 left in the game. The Generals were led by junior guard Mike Stuart’s team-high 13 points, while sophomore forward David Will rounded out W&L’s double-digit scorers with 10 points. Ricky Easterling connected on 7-for-13 from the field to lead Bridgewater with a game-high 19 points, while Ryan Lambert rounded out the Eagles’ double-digit scorers with 10 points.

SCOUTING BRIDGEWATER:
Bridgewater enters the game off a 78-60 home loss to Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles trailed by just six points (28-22) at the break, but allowed the Marlins to shoot 61.5 percent from the field in the second stanza. Junior guard Ricky Easterling paced the Eagles with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the floor. Senior center Jeff Schwalm was the only other BC player in double-digits, tallying 15 points and seven boards. Bridgewater, which has lost seven straight games, is led by Easterling's 19.2 points and 2.8 assists per game. Schwalm averages 10.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per outing, while senior forward Ryan Lambert gives BC 10.2 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game. As a team, the Eagles shoot 50.0 percent from the floor and 70.9 percent from the foul line.

AT THE CHARITY STRIPE:
W&L's opponents have shot 160 more free throws during the course of the season. The Generals' have hit for a greater percentage (.663 - .640), but have been outscored by 94 points at the stripe this season.

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 42 games, meaning that W&L has led at the break in just over 69 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 52 three-point field goals and is shooting 41.9 percent (52-124) from beyond the arc. He has hit a three in 20 of the team's 24 games, but has gone cold recently, making just eight of his last 35 attempts (.229). However, not just a shooter, Halkitis leads the team in steals (1.4 spg.) and is second in assists (2.0 apg.) and rebounding (4.5 rpg.).

CENTURY CLUB:
Junior guard Mike Stuart entered the century club on Saturday at Eastern Mennonite when he hit 2-of-3 three-point attempts. Stuart now claims 101 three-point field goals, tied with Derek Carter '96 for sixth place on the W&L all-time list. For his career, Stuart is 101-288 (.351) from three-point range. 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.

TOP FIVE:
Senior point guard Michael Denbow dished out five assists in Saturday's win at EMU, moving him into the Top 5 all-time at W&L in that category. Denbow now claims 250 career dimes. This season, the 5-foot-11 guard has totaled a team-high 53 assists with just 37 turnovers.

SIMPLY JONES:
There's nothing flashy about Hamill Jones' name nor his game. However, keeping things simple have led Jones to a team-best .584 shooting percentage (45-77). 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 nine games ago. Over that stretch, he is averaging 6.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Over his last eight contests, Jones is shooting .697 from the floor (23-33).

CONSIDERING COLEMAN:
More and more, opposing teams must account for freshman guard Coleman Lyons. Lyons has played in 23 of the team's 24 games and ranks fourth on the team in scoring with 7.0 points per game. Lyons has tallied double-figures in eight games, including each of the last three in which he has played. Over his last three games, Lyons is averaging 13.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 81.0 percent (17-21) from the foul line. He is also shooting .445 (8-18) from three-point range over his last seven games.

TALKING ODAC TOURNAMENT:
The Generals are again on the cusp of qualifying for the ODAC Tournament held Feb. 21-23 at the Salem Civic Center. The Generals are currently fighting it out with Lynchburg, Roanoke and Bridgewater for one of the final two seeds in the tournament. Bridgewater and Roanoke are currently one game up on the Generals and Hornets. A W&L win over Bridgewater and a Lynchburg loss could give W&L the No. 7 seed in the tournament. A loss to Bridgewater and the Generals could only be a No. 8 seed. Furthermore, if W&L and Lynchburg both lose, the tiebreaker system considering wins over conference opponents would be in use. With the standings so close for a number of different seedings, every game being played on Tuesday will affect W&L's possibility for making the tournament.

Tuesday Evening Games:
Lynchburg at Randolph-Macon; 7:00 pm
Hampden-Sydney at Virginia Wesleyan; 7:00 pm
Guilford at Emory & Henry; 7:00 pm
Eastern Mennonite at Roanoke; 7:00 pm

- GENERALS --