Tiger guards Drew Prehmus (Atlanta, GA/Wesleyan) and Mike Edwards (Richmond, VA/Steward School) each scored 15 points, while senior center Aaron Lewek (Raleigh, NC/Leesville Road) added a season-high 11 and sophomore Troy Kaase (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) came off the bench to drop in ten. The Tigers used a 22-8 run midway through the second half to build a 26 point advantage (73-47) and never looked back en route to their 17th straight win over the Generals.
Femi Kusimo scored 13, while Alex White added 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Generals, who were held to just 31 percent (9-of-29) shooting from the floor in the second half and canned just 2-of-11 (18.2%) from three point range, compared to the Tigers’ blistering 57 percent (8-of-14) effort.
The game was a back-and-forth battle over the first 14 minutes, as the score deadlocked eight different times, the final at 23 as W&L’s John Mumper scored on a layup at the 6:03 mark. The Tigers closed the half on a 17-7 run however as Kaase and junior guard Matt Green each scored five points to give Hampden-Sydney at 40-30 lead at halftime.
The Tigers moved out to a 12 point lead, 51-39, with 14:42 to play in the second half before going on the 22-8 run that was sparked Mike Edwards, who scored eight of his 15 points in the stretch, while Kevin Forrester (Wytheville, VA/George Wythe) added five of his six points to give the Tigers the 26 point advantage, 73-47, with 9:04 to play.
Washington and Lee continued to battle down the stretch as Brett Ittersagen’s three pointer cut the Tiger lead to 22 (81-59), with 3:14 remaining, while Chris McHugh added a pair of free throws with 17 seconds to play to cut the lead to 20 (83-63). The Tigers wrapped up the game as freshmen Fitz Robertson (Queens, NY/Kent School) and Nelson Gregory (Meherrin, VA/Prince Edward) went to the free throw line and scored the first points of their careers in the waning seconds to give the Tigers the 84-63 final advantage.
Hampden-Sydney returns to action Monday as the Tigers host Roanoke College at 7 pm in S. Douglas Fleet Gymnasium. The game will be broadcast live on FM 95.7 WFLO and on the internet at www.hsc.edu/athletics.