Game 11 • W&L (2-8, 1-3) at Roanoke (7-3, 1-2) • January 10, 2004 • 7:00 pm

THE SERIES:
W&L and Roanoke will be meeting for the 102nd time with the Maroons holding a 68-33 advantage in the all-time series. Roanoke has won each of the last 18 meetings in the series, including a 57-47 win in the last meeting on Feb. 1, 2003 in the Bast Center. W&L's last win over the Maroons came on Jan. 7, 1995, an 85-65 triumph in the Warner Center.

LAST MEETING WITH ROANOKE:
The Washington and Lee men’s basketball team managed to score just five points over the final 9:36 of the second half and fell, 57-47, to Roanoke in Salem, Va. The Maroons scored their last 11 points from the free throw line as they extended a 46-42 advantage to the final margin. They overcame shooting just 17-of-53 from the floor (32.1 percent) by forcing the Generals into 21 turnovers. W&L guard Ian McClure scored a team-high 16 points, including three three-pointers, and grabbed six boards. Senior forward Scott Hettermann added 11 points and eight rebounds. Roanoke was paced by Robby Pridgen’s game-high 17 points. Josh Foster chipped in with 10 points.

UP NEXT:
W&L will host Eastern Mennonite on Wednesday for a 7:00 pm contest. The Generals will then travel to Lynchburg for a 5:00 pm game on Saturday before returning home to host Hampden-Sydney on Sunday at 5:00 pm.

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 34-75 (.312) overall record in five seasons as a head coach. Hutchinson is assisted by Ryan Kadlubowski (Rochester '03) and Curtis Buxton. Roanoke is led by 15th-year Head Coach Page Moir (Virginia Tech '84). This season, Moir passed Ed Green as the winningest coach in the history of Roanoke basketball. His career record stands at 263-127 (.674).

LAST TIME OUT:
Virginia Wesleyan, ranked 26th in the latest Division III polls, raced out to a 32-22 halftime advantage and extended to a 13-point win (58-45) over Washington and Lee on Sunday afternoon in Norfolk, Va. The Generals climbed to within five points midway through the second half, but could get no closer as they scored just seven points in the final nine minutes of the game. The game featured a combined 41 fouls and the Marlins outscored the Generals by six points (12-6) at the foul line. Freshman guard Coleman Lyons led W&L with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor. Sophomore forwards Ryan Flynn and David Will each scored nine points, while Will grabbed five rebounds. For Flynn, the nine points were a season-high. Senior forward David Doino paced the Marlins with a game-high 16 points and five rebounds.

SCOUTING ROANOKE:
Roanoke is 7-3 overall, 1-2 in the ODAC following an 82-65 win over SUNY New Paltz in the V-Foundation Classic Championship on Thursday evening. The Maroons placed four players in double figures led by senior forward Drew Crowder's 18 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Jared Butler tallied 15 points and seven boards, while senior forward Jason Graffam and sophomore forward NyJuan Hall each contributed 10 points and eight rebounds. Roanoke shot just 39.1 percent from the floor, but hit 25-of-35 foul shots in the contest. The Maroons advanced to the championship of their tournament by defeating St. Joseph's (Maine), 90-72, on Wednesday evening. For the season, Roanoke is paced by Butler, who is averaging 13.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Graffam offers 10.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, while senior center Kevinn Hunter averages 10.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per outing. Crowder adds 10.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. As a team, the Maroons shoot 40.9 percent from the floor, 31.1 percent from three-point range and 66.7 percent from the foul line.

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 30-13 (.698) when allowing its opponent 59 points or less, 2-2 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 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 (79) and on the career attempts list (236). Stuart has struggled from behind the arc in the early going in 2003-04, hitting just 11-for-38 (.289) from three this season.

DROPPIN' DIMES:
Senior point guard Michael Denbow has been known for dropping dimes during his career, totaling 227 assists in 82 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 21 more dimes. Denbow is averaging 3.0 assists per game this season and claims 19 assists and just five turnovers in his last six contests. For the season, he claims a 2.3-1 assist-turnover ratio, the best of his career.

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 19 three-point field goals and is shooting 48.7 percent (19-39) from beyond the arc. He has at-least one three-pointer in each of the last eight contests and is averaging 1.9 three's made per game this season. Take away a pair of 1-of-5 performances (Bridgewater, Dec. 10 and Virginia Wesleyan, Jan. 4) and Halkitis would be shooting 58.6 percent from behind 19 feet, 9 inches. Not just a shooter, Halikits also leads the team in steals (13) and is second in assists (15) and rebounds (3.7 rpg.).

SIMPLY JONES:
There's nothing flashy about Hamill Jones' name nor his game. However, keeping things simple have led Jones to a team-best .645 shooting percentage (20-31). 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 4.7 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.

HEART OF A LYON:
Freshman guard Coleman Lyons has been asserting himself more and more as the season progresses. Lyons came off the bench to notch a team season-high 16 points in a loss to Chowan on Dec. 6 and led the Generals in scoring in each of the past two games with 12 points against both Randolph-Macon and Virginia Wesleyan. In those games, he shot a combined 10-of-16 (.625) from the floor. For the season. Lyons is averaging 6.2 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.

HEATING UP:
Sophomore forward Ryan Flynn is also seeing his game develop of late. Since the semester break (3 games), Flynn has been averaging 7.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 47.1 percent (8-17) from the floor. On the season, Flynn is averaging 4.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.

AT THE CHARITY STRIPE:
W&L's opponents have hit (121) nearly as many free throws as it has taken (124) thus far. Additionally, the Generals are shooting just 52.6 percent from the stripe in the three games since returning from the holiday break. On the season, W&L shoots 66.9 percent from the foul line.

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK:
W&L had a season-low nine turnovers in the loss to Randolph-Macon last Saturday and is averaging just 13 turnovers per game since the holiday break. Prior to the break, W&L was averaging 18.3 turnovers per outing. For the season, the Generals are giving up 16.7 turnovers per game.

BRUTAL STRETCH...:
W&L has gone through a brutal stretch of games already and will continue to do so through next week. The Generals have already played five teams ranked in the Top 30 in Franklin & Marshall (19th), Catholic (14th), Trinity (17th), Randolph-Macon (8th) and Virginia Wesleyan (26th). In addition, W&L played Division I Citadel. As of the Roanoke game, W&L will also have played eight of its first 11 games on the road.

BUT HELP IS ON THE WAY:
W&L's rough early start will help as the year progresses, however. Playing tough early season opponents can only strengthen the Generals for the conference stretch run which includes 10 of the final 14 games at home, including five-straight home games from Jan. 24 until Feb. 4.

RECENT SERIES GAMES WITH ROANOKE:
Though the Generals haven't been able to break into the win column against Roanoke in some time, the recent games have been anything but blowouts. Over the past seven games, the deciding margin is an average of just 10.4 points per game. Last season's two meetings were determined by a combined 22 points and the final contest of the 2001-02 season went to overtime (76-69). The only opponent W&L has played more times in school history than Roanoke is Bridgewater (106 meetings).

-- GENERALS --