LEXINGTON, VA – Missing several players due to illness and a few others playing under the weather, the shorthanded Hampden-Sydney Basketball team dropped a 77-67 decision to Washington & Lee on Wednesday night. H-SC sits at 11-7 overall and 4-5 in the ODAC while W&L is 7-11 and 4-5.

Despite being undermanned, H-SC started out leading 8-0 four minutes in and pushed the advantage out to nine, 16-5, at 11:09. The Generals proceeded to go on an 18-2 run over the next six minutes to go out in front 23-18 with 4:40 left in the half, forcing a Hampden-Sydney timeout. The timeout paid dividends with H-SC scoring the next seven to regain a 25-22 lead following a Jake Duncan (Williamsburg, VA / Williamsburg Christian) three-pointer. Hampden-Sydney led 31-25 with 33 seconds left, but Darren Douglas banked in a three at the buzzer to make it a 31-28 game going into halftime.

Hampden-Sydney maintained a narrow advantage eight minutes into the second frame. With the game tied at 50-50 at 9:52, the Generals used a 12-5 spurt to go up 62-55 at 6:20 and pushed their lead out to double digits, 69-59, at 4:30. Four quick points from Duncan made it a six-point game, but H-SC could not get the deficit lower than that the rest of the way.

Duncan had his best game in a Tiger uniform, scoring 26 points while shooting 10-11 overall and 5-5 from three. Mike Murray (Norfolk, VA / Norfolk Christian), playing sick, added on 12 points and four boards. Leon Hargrove (Raleigh, NC / Middle Creek) contributed 11 points, four rebounds, and two steals.

Clayton Murtha led Washington & Lee with 25 points. He struggled from the floor at 5-15, but he sizzled at the free throw line, making 15 of his 16 attempts. Andy Kleinlein scored 17, and Andrew Franz chipped in with 12 points, five assists, and four rebounds. Darren Douglas added on 11 points.

Both teams shot well from the field as H-SC was 46.2% and W&L 47.8%. Each squad also found success from beyond the arc, but W&L had an advantage there with 10 makes compared to seven for the Tigers. The free throw line proved to be the difference maker once again with the Generals making an impressive 23 of 25 while the Tigers went 12-22.

Hampden-Sydney returns to Kirby Fieldhouse for a three-game home stand this Saturday as they host the Wasps of Emory & Henry College at 2 pm.