Game 6 • W&L (0-5, 0-0) vs. Bridgewater (3-0, 0-0)
December 1, 2004 • 7:00 pm

Game 7 • W&L (0-5, 0-0) at Randolph-Macon (0-2, 0-0)
December 4, 2004 • 2:00 pm

Game 8 • W&L (0-5, 0-0) at Virginia Wesleyan (3-0, 0-0)
December 5, 2004 • 2:00 pm

THE SERIES':
W&L and Bridgewater will be meeting for the 108th time, with the Generals holding a 68-39 advantage in the all-time series. However, W&L has dropped eight straight to the Eagles since a 55-50 win in the 2000 ODAC Tournament. W&L and Randolph-Macon will be meeting for the 64th time, with the Yellow Jackets claiming a 51-12 series edge. R-MC has won each of the last 37 meetings dating back to Feb. 9, 1977 when the Generals defeated the Yellow Jackets, 75-73, in Lexington, Va. W&L and Virginia Wesleyan will meet for the 35th time, with the Marlins holding a 24-10 series lead. The Marlins have won each of the last five meetings in the series.

SCOUTING BRIDGEWATER:
Bridgewater is 3-0 heading into its Tuesday evening game at UNC-Greensboro. The Eagles are coming off a 67-60 win over Juniata last Tuesday evening. Junior forward Harry Moore led BC with 20 points, while senior guards C.W. Durrette and Ricky Easterling both tallied 12 points and five rebounds. For the season, Easterling leads the team in scoring with 16.7 points per game, while Moore contributes 13.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. Junior forward Clay Michael adds 9.7 points and a team-high 10.0 rebounds per outing. As a team, the Eagles shoot 53.6 percent from the floor and hold a +16.6 rebounding margin.

SCOUTING MACON AND WESLEYAN:
Randolph-Macon is 0-2 following losses to DePauw and Aurora in the Illinois Wesleyan Tournament. The Yellow Jackets host Lynchburg on Wednesday. Virginia Wesleyan is 3-0 overall and hosts Salisbury University on Monday evening before traveling to Hampden-Sydney on Wednesday.

THE HEAD GENERAL:
Adam Hutchinson (Amherst '93) is in his second season as the head coach at Washington and Lee, posting a 7-23 (.233) record with the Generals. Prior to his arrival in Lexington, Hutchinson had coached for two seasons at Case Western Reserve University and two seasons at Stevens Tech. In his five seasons as a head coach, Hutchinson claims a 41-90 (.313) overall record. Hutchinson is assisted by Ryan Kadlubowski (Rochester '03) and Curtis Buxton.

LAST TIME OUT:
Eighth-ranked Trinity College (Conn.) used a 17-8 run midway through the second half to defeat Washington and Lee, 70-58, in men’s basketball action on Sunday afternoon at the Warner Center. The Generals trailed just 44-40 with 14:49 remaining in the second period, but the Bantams’ run pushed them out to a 13-point lead (61-48) with 8:14 left in the game and the Generals would not challenge again. Washington and Lee shot just 30.0 percent and committed 10 turnovers in the decisive second half. The Generals were led by junior forward David Will, who tallied his first double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Senior guard Mike Stuart totaled 12 points, while freshman forward Femi Kusimo contributed 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Trinity was paced by junior forward Tyler Rhoten, who totaled 20 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Senior center Craig Coupe added 14 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks.

LAST MEETING WITH BRIDGEWATER:
Bridgewater College used a 13-0 run late in the first half to defeat Washington and Lee, 72-61, at the Warner Center. The Eagles trailed 20-19 with 8:09 remaining in the first stanza, but used three triples and a pair of layups to assume a 33-19 edge with 4:45 remaining. The Generals chipped away and cut the Bridgewater lead to nine points at 66-57 with 3:34 remaining, but could get no closer. W&L was led by senior forward Hamill Jones, who scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Forward Alex White tallied 11 points, while forward Phil Landes added nine points and five boards. Bridgewater was paced by guard Ricky Easterling’s 15 points. Senior forward Ryan Lambert contributed 14 points and five boards in the winning effort. The Eagles hit 22-of-26 free throws in the game, compared to the Generals’ 5-of-7 performance at the stripe.

LAST MEETING WITH RANDOLPH-MACON:
Fourth-ranked Randolph-Macon broke a 48-48 tie on a pair of free throws by senior forward Kurt Bergmann with 8:29 remaining and held the lead the rest of the way in defeating Washington and Lee, 66-61, at the Warner Center. Washington and Lee hung close with the Yellow Jackets, never trailing by more than four points in the first half. Macon extended to a six-point advantage (32-26) in the opening minutes of the second stanza, but the Generals climbed back to take a one-point lead (40-39) on a four-point play by guard Chris Halkitis with 13:11 remaining. The game would be tied four times in the next five minutes before the Yellow Jackets assumed a seven-point lead (60-53) with 42 seconds remaining. The Generals would crawl back to 62-59 with 17 seconds remaining, but R-MC guard Justin Moyer nailed four free throws in the final 15 seconds to ice the game. The Generals were led by Halkitis, who scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Senior forward Hamill Jones added 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Bergmann paced the Yellow Jackets with 16 points and eight rebounds. Moyer scored 15 points on 10-of-10 shooting from the foul line, while forward Justin Wansley contributed 14 points and eight boards.

LAST MEETING WITH VIRGINIA WESLEYAN:
Virginia Wesleyan took a 40-38 lead with 13:54 remaining in the game and never trailed again in defeating Washington and Lee, 59-54, at the Warner Center. W&L led 31-28 at the break, but the Marlins’ 9-0 run gave them an eight-point lead (46-38) with 10:55 remaining in the game. VWC extended its advantage to 55-44 with 5:34 remaining before the Generals mounted a late charge. A three-pointer by guard Chris Halkitis cut the Marlins’ lead to 57-54 with 1:52 left. However, W&L would miss two layups in the final minute and a pair of free throws by forward Brandon Adair iced the game for Virginia Wesleyan. W&L was led by Halkitis, who tallied a game-high 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting from behind the three-point arc. Forward David Will notched 14 points and nine rebounds, while guard Mike Stuart added 10 points. The Marlins were led by Adair, who scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Forward Peter Warren and guard Marques Fitch added 12 points each.

THREE MAN:
Senior guard Mike Stuart has enjoyed a fine career with the Generals and will only look to continue that fine play this season. Twice he has tied the W&L record for three-pointers in a game (7), doing so as a freshman and again last season. He is sixth all-time with 110 career three-pointers made, and is fifth all-time in three-point attempts (318). A .346 career shooter from beyond the arc, Stuart has hit just 9-of-28 attempts (.321) this season.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN:
W&L features 15 players on the 2004-05 roster. This list includes one senior, two juniors, five sophomores and seven freshmen. The 15 players come from 10 different states and have an average height of 6-4 and an average weight of 199 pounds.

STRONG START = STRONG FINISH:
A quick start has been imperative to the Generals winning games. Over the past seven 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.

KEEP EM' UNDER 60:
People love to see offense, but defense does win games as evidenced by W&L's record in low scoring contests. During the last eight seasons, W&L is 32-15 (.681) when allowing opponents 59 points or less, 4-4 last season.

FABULOUS FEMI:
Freshman forward Femi Kusimo is off to a tremendous start to his career, averaging 9.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. A First Team All-State performer at Charleston Catholic High School, Kusimo is shooting .600 from the floor this season. Kusimo began his W&L career by totaling 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal in the opening loss to Nazareth.

THE 411 ON HALKITIS:
Sophomore guard Chris Halkitis had a fine season in 2003-04, earning Honorable Mention All-ODAC honors after hitting 54-of-129 three-point attempts (.419). However, Halkitis has been in a slump of late, having hit just 19 of his last 69 three-point attempts (.275) dating back to last season. Halkitis is averaging 10.2 points per game this season.

WHY SO CHARITABLE?:
Last season, W&L was outscored by its opponents by a total of 174 points for the season. Much of that difference occurred at the foul line, where the Generals held a 111-point disadvantage. Again this season, W&L is being outscored at the line as its opponents have hit (109) more free throws than it has attempted (108). W&L has been outscored by a total of 73 points in its first five games. That differential is helped by a 36-point disadvantage at the foul line.

FIVE AND DIME:
W&L placed five players in double-figures against Emory on Saturday, marking the first time that five players had scored at least 10 points since a 79-59 win over Daniel Webster in the 2002-03 season-opener. The Generals nearly placed six in double-digits as freshman guard Andrew Franklin finished the game with nine points. W&L has not placed six in double-figures since a 102-81 win over Eastern Mennonite during the 1994-95 season.

FRESHMAN FORWARDS:
W&L has relied heavily on its trio of freshmen forwards, Femi Kusimo, Greg Bienemann and Colton Braud. Together, the three have combined to shoot .561 (46-of-82) from the field and are averaging 24.6 points and 12.8 rebounds per game.

SCORING TREND:
In recent years, the Generals have had trouble scoring, something that hasn't been a problem this season. W&L is averaging 66.2 points per game, a total which is a little more than eight points better than last season (58.0 ppg).

-- GENERALS --