WEEK #4

Game 7 • W&L (2-4, 1-0) at Bridgewater (3-2, 1-1) • December 10, 2003 • 7:00 pm

THE SERIES:
W&L and Bridgewater will be meeting for the 106th time, with the Generals holding a 68-37 advantage in the all-time series. Bridgewater has won six straight in the series, dating back to a 55-50 W&L win the the first round of the 2000 ODAC Tournament. W&L's last win at Nininger Hall occurred on Feb. 2, 1998, when the Generals prevailed 57-53. W&L's 68 wins against Bridgewater are the most against any opponent all-time.

LAST TIME OUT:
Chowan closed the game on an 8-0 run to post a 72-66 win over Washington and Lee in men’s basketball action on Saturday afternoon at the Warner Center. The Generals took a 66-64 lead with 2:46 remaining in the game as sophomore forward Phil Landes capped a 15-5 W&L run with a pair of free throws. After the Landes charity tosses, Chowan junior guard Roland Brown nailed a three-pointer with 2:03 remaining in the game to give the Braves the lead for good. Washington and Lee was led by freshman guard Coleman Lyons, who tallied a career-high 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor. He was joined in double-figures by freshman guard Chris Halkitis with 11 points and sophomore forward David Will with 10 points. Freshman forward Alex White added a career-high eight points and a career-high eight rebounds. Chowan was paced by freshman forward Trayvon Lathan, who tallied a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds. For the game, the Braves shot 51.9 percent (27-52) from the floor.

SCOUTING BRIDGEWATER:
Bridgewater is 3-2 on the season after defeating Mt. Aloysius on Sunday by a 102-76 count. The Eagles shot 56.8 percent (42-74) from the floor in the win. Sophomore forward Richard Mallalieu paced five BC players in double-figures with 15 points. Junior guard Ricky Easterling totaled 12 points and junior guard Ashby Tarkington registered 11 points, while sophomore guard Harry Moore and sophomore forward Zach Butler added 10 points each. Moore led the Eagles on the board with eight rebounds. For the season, Moore leads the team in scoring with 15.4 points per game. He also contributes 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per outing. Easterling, a First Team All-ODAC selection last season, is averaging 13.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. Senior forward Ryan Lambert is adding 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest. As a team, BC shoots 51.0 percent from the field, led by Lambert and Moore, who are shooting 75.0 percent and 65.3 percent, respectively.

UP NEXT:
The Generals will break for finals and the Christmas holiday before returning to the Warner Center court on Dec. 30 for a 7:00 pm game with Trinity (Conn.).

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 was in the process of turning around the program after two solid recruiting classes. Hutchinson also served as the head coach at Steven's Tech for two seasons and claims a 34-71 (.324) 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 276-196 (.585) all-time with the Eagles.

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 30-11 (.732) when allowing its opponent 59 points or less, 2-0 this season. The Generals have not lost when allowing 59 points or less since a 57-48 setback against Roanoke on Jan. 6, 2001.

STRONG START = STRONG FINISH:
A quick start has been imperative to the Generals winning games. Over the past six years, W&L is 26-12 (.684) when leading at the half. During that same stretch, W&L has won a total of 37 games, meaning that W&L has led at the break in just over 70 percent of its wins during the last six years. However, W&L's two wins this season both came when trailing at the half.

THREE MAN:
Junior guard Mike Stuart has proven to be a threat from beyond the arc, hitting 34-of-96 attempts (.354) last season. Stuart ranks 11th on the career three-pointer makes list (74) and on the career attempts list (223). Stuart has struggled from behind the arc in the early going in 2003-04, hitting just 6-for-25 (.240) from three this season.

DROPPIN' DIMES:
Senior point guard Michael Denbow has been known for dropping dimes during his career, totaling 219 assists in 78 career games, an average of 2.8 assists per game. He can climb into the Top 5 in W&L history in career assists with 29 more dimes. Denbow is averaging 3.7 assists per game this season and claims 11 assists and just one turnover in his last two contests. W&L is 8-8 (.500) all-time when Denbow records five or more assists in a game.

WHERE THERE'S A WILL, THERE'S A WAY:
Sophomore forward David Will was the Generals' top scoring freshman last season, averaging 7.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per contest. Through six games this season, Will is second on the team in scoring with 9.5 points per game. He is shooting 46.6 percent (27-58) from the floor and has grabbed an average of 3.8 rebounds per contest. In Saturday's loss to Chowan, Will blocked a career-high three shots. He is averaging 1.0 blocks per game for the season.

PLAYING LARGE:
At 5-10, 160 pounds, freshman guard Chris Halkitis is almost always the smallest player on the court. However, Halkitis tends to play larger than his stature. Halkitis led the Generals on the boards against Drew, grabbing a game- and career-high nine rebounds in just 18 minutes of action. According to school records, his nine rebounds were the most by a W&L player under 6-foot tall since at least 1990. He currently leads the team in rebounding with an average of 4.0 boards per game. Halkitis is also a "dead-eye" shooter, having hit 11-of-21 (.524) three-point attempts for the 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 .714 shooting percentage (15-21). 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 currently averaging 6.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.

AT THE CHARITY STRIPE:
W&L is shooting 74.7 percent from the foul line this season, but has gone to the line just 75 times in six games. On the flip side, W&L's opponents have hit just 63.8 percent of their charity tosses, but have shot 116 free throws. All told, the Generals' opponents have hit nearly as many free throws (74) as W&L has attempted (75) this season.

GENEROUS GENERALS:
Tis the season for giving and lest we forget the motto "better to give than receive". Words to live by, except when on the basketball court. The Generals must keep this in mind when they take the court. Through six games, W&L is averaging 19.3 turnovers per game. On the flip side, the Generals are only receiving 13.0 "gifts" per game from their opponents.

BALANCED ATTACK:
W&L claims just one player averaging double-digits, but it can claim six players averaging 5.2 points or better. Of the Generals' top six scorers, there is but one senior (Hamill Jones), one junior (Mike Stuart), two sophomores (David Will, Phil Landes) and two freshmen (Chris Halkitis, Coleman Lyons).

THE LYON AWAKES:
Freshman guard Coleman Lyons awoke on Saturday against Chowan, scoring a career-high 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the three-point arc. Prior to Saturday, Lyons had scored a total of 15 points in the Generals first five games, an average of just 3.0 points per contest. Lyons earned all-county honors at Marist High School in Atlanta before taking a post-graduate year at Phillips Academy in Massachusetts last season.

-- GENERALS --