Game 13 • W&L (2-10, 0-5) vs. Eastern Mennonite (7-4, 4-2)
Lexington, Va. • January 12, 2004 • 7:00 pm

THE SERIES:
W&L and Eastern Mennonite will be meeting for the 66th time, with the Generals holding a 43-22 advantage in the all-time series. The Generals have won four straight against the Royals and have not lost to EMU at the Warner Center since a 72-62 loss in the 1997-98 home finale. W&L won the last meeting by a score of 76-69 at EMU on Feb. 14, 2004.

SCOUTING EASTERN MENNONITE:
Eastern Mennonite is 7-4 overall and 4-2 in the ODAC following an 82-78 victory over Hampden-Sydney on Monday evening. The Royals jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the opening minutes only to have the Tigers roll to a 42-34 halftime lead. An 11-2 run early in the second half knotted the game at 51-51 and the Royals assumed control with six minutes remaining in the game, never trailing again. Sophomore forward Jason Sager led EMU with a career-high 32 points and 13 rebounds, his eighth double-double of the season. Freshman guard Brad Parkes also notched a career-high with 29 points, while sophomore guard JoMorrae Gordon added six points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals. For the season, Sager leads the way for EMU with 18.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. Parkes contributes 10.8 points and 3.8 boards per outing, while sophomore center Jason Lentz adds 9.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per contest. As a team, the Royals shoot 47.1 percent from the floor and average 27 free throws shot per game. EMU has also outrebounded its' opposition by an average of 9.3 boards per game.

UP NEXT:
W&L hits the road this weekend for a pair of contests. The Generals travel to Lynchburg on Saturday for a 3:00 pm contest, then travel to Hampden-Sydney on Sunday for a 2:00 pm game.

THE HEAD GENERAL:
Adam Hutchinson (Amherst '93) is in his second season as the head coach at Washington and Lee, posting a 9-28 (.243) 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 six seasons as a head coach, Hutchinson claims a 43-95 (.312) overall record. Hutchinson is assisted by Ryan Kadlubowski (Rochester '03) and Curtis Buxton.

LAST TIME OUT:
Roanoke College went on a 24-7 run over the final 8:32 to defeat Washington and Lee, 71-59, in ODAC men’s basketball action on Saturday night in Salem, Va. The Generals trailed 24-23 with 4:42 remaining in the first half, but went on a 12-2 run to head into halftime with a 35-26 lead. W&L led throughout most of the second stanza and was up 52-47 with 8:32 remaining. However, with 7:21 left, Roanoke retook the lead in the midst of its 24-7 game-ending spurt. W&L was 19-for-54 (.352) from the field, including just 6-for-25 (.240) in the second half, and committed 17 turnovers. The Maroons ripped the nets at a 51 percent clip (25-for-49) and were 7-for-14 from three-point range, including 5-for-8 in the second half. The Generals were led by sophomore guard Chris Halkitis, who finished with a team-high 14 points and five rebounds. Freshman forward Greg Bienemann chipped in 13 points and grabbed five boards. Roanoke received 17 points each from senior center Kevinn Hunter, junior guard Jared Butler, and freshman guard Ben Shrader.

LAST MEETING WITH EASTERN MENNONITE:
Washington and Lee used a 10-2 run in the second half to recover from a 34-29 halftime deficit and defeat Eastern Mennonite on the road, 76-69. 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. The Royals were not easily shaken by the visitors’ run, and after some of back and forth scoring, locked the game at 57-57 with 6:00 minutes remaining. The Generals managed another short run, outscoring EMU 6-0 to take a 63-57 lead with 3:15 showing on the game clock. 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 50.0 percent (25-of-50) from the field for the game, including 55.6 percent (15-of-27) in the second half. Guard Mike Stuart led the Generals with 15 points, while guard Coleman Lyons added 11 points. Forward David Will rounded out the W&L leaders with 10 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Eastern Mennonite guard Jason Sager led all scorers with 27 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Forward E.J. Arrington contributed 17 points in the losing effort.

THREE MAN:
Senior guard Mike Stuart has enjoyed a fine career with the Generals and has continued 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 fourth all-time with 119 career three-pointers made, and is fifth all-time in three-point attempts (346). A .344 career shooter from beyond the arc, Stuart has hit 18-of-56 attempts (.321) this season, but is coming off an 18-point performance against Washington last Monday. In that game, Stuart nailed 4-of-6 three-point attempts.

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 31-18 (.633) when leading at the half. During that same stretch, W&L has won a total of 44 games, meaning that W&L has led at the break in over 70 percent of its wins during the last seven 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 32-16 (.667) when allowing opponents 59 points or less, 0-1 this season.

GETTING OFFENSIVE:
For several years, W&L has been characterized by slow play, particularly on offense. That has been changing of late as the Generals are currently averaging 65.7 points per game, the highest average point production for a season since the 1996-97 campaign. In its last four games (2-2 record), W&L is averaging 73.8 points per game.

BIENEMANN THE BETTER MANN:
Freshman forward Greg Bienemann has been a significant contributor to the Generals in his initial campaign, leading the team in scoring with an average of 11.8 points per game. Bienemann has scored in double figures in eight of the team's 12 games and has led the team in scoring on three occasions. Bienemann scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a win over Piedmont and is shooting 53.7 percent from the field.

FABULOUS FEMI:
Freshman forward Femi Kusimo has also been a pleasant addition to the Generals lineup this season. Kusimo leads the team in steals (1.3 spg), blocks (0.6 bpg) and field goal percentage (.578), is second in rebounding (5.9 rpg) and assists (2.1 apg) and is third in scoring (10.3 ppg). Kusimo has led W&L in scoring on three occasions and is tied for the team-lead with eight double-figure scoring games. Last week, Kusimo was named to the all-tournament team of the W&L Tournament after averaging 11.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals in the wins over Piedmont and Washington College.

SHOT SELECTION:
The Generals have started to funnel shots to the tandem of Bienemann and Kusimo considering that the duo have combined to hit 55.5 percent (106-of-191) of their shots. The other 12 players who have seen action are a combined 182-of-487 from the field for 37.4 percent.

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). Halkitis has been in a slump of late, but broke out in the win over Washington College last Monday by scoring a career-high 27 points en route to Tournament MVP honors. Halkitis hit 9-of-18 shots from the floor and 3-of-9 three-pointers in posting the career-high point total. Halkitis currently leads the team in assists (2.7 apg), ranks second on the team in scoring (11.7 ppg) and steals (1.2 spg), and is fourth in rebounding (3.5 rpg).

THE YOUTH:
Senior guard Mike Stuart and junior forwards David Will and Matt Lawless are the only upperclassmen to see action in 2004-05. The Generals 11 underclassmen who have played have combined to average 47.9 points, 25.4 rebounds and 11.9 assists per game. That translates into 73.0 percent of the team's points, 74.0 percent of the team's rebounds and 87.2 percent of the team's assists.

IT'S A MATTER OF WILL AGAINST THE ROYALS:
Junior forward David Will has made a habit of having good games against Eastern Mennonite during his career. In four games against the Royals, Will has averaged 14.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while shooting 51.9 percent (27-of-52) from the floor. As a freshman, Will set career-highs with 18 points and 12 rebounds in one game against EMU.

-- GENERALS --