The Generals continue to battle through a tough season

The+Generals+continue+to+battle+through+a+tough+season

Courtesy of W&L Sports Information

David Cohen

Following a nail-biter of a victory over conference rival Roanoke last Wednesday, the Washington and Lee Men’s Basketball team is looking forward to a late season run to reverse what has been a tumultuous opening to the 2014-15 season.

The Generals have gone 2-3 in conference play and 5-9 overall. Against Roanoke, Clayton Murtha, a first-year forward from Dallas, Texas scored a high of 17 points. Sophomore guard Andy Kleinlein from Chesterfield, Missouri, was a menace on both sides of the ball, tallying a high of six assists during Wednesday’s contest.

When asked to describe Wednesday’s win, senior captain Patrick O’Connor was quick to praise both Murtha and Kleinlein as well as every player on the team and the coaching staff.

“I felt that our win against Roanoke was a function of our team chemistry and our willingness to work to help our teammates,” said O’Connor. “This could be seen whenever a player dove on the ground and had a teammate pick him up, or whenever a player was subbed out and our whole bench stood up to tell him good work.”

Head Coach Adam Hutchinson maintains a patient attitude regarding the Generals campaign to come back from a 5-9 start to the season.

“We have been inconsistent with our effort and focus, and it has cost us…our focus should be on playing hard and continuing to improve daily,” he said. “[But] I don’t really think about it in terms of turning things around. We have to keep working at mastering our fundamentals and correctly executing in given situations.  That is always the focus no matter what the record is.”

O’Connor also noted free-throws as an area that needs attention, considering W&L knocked down only 13 of their 23 attempts against Roanoke.              

Both Coach Hutchinson and his captain remain optimistic about the future, undeterred by anything their record might suggest.

“It seems like we are learning from some of those mistakes and making improvements,” Hutchinson said.

“We understand the challenge we have ahead of us with the rest of ODAC play,” added O’Connor. “We are excited to see what we can do.”