SALEM, Va. – Sophomore A.J. Thomas sank the go-ahead, and ultimately the game-winning three-point shot with nine seconds left to push the Washington and Lee men’s basketball team to a come-from-behind, 74-71 upset win over No. 2 Randolph-Macon in the ODAC semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
After the Yellow Jackets (23-4) took a 68-66 lead with 50.1 seconds left, senior Robert DiSibio gave the Generals (18-9) a 69-68 lead, losing a defender with a stepback jumper from the top of the key and beyond the arc. Vincent Payne answered on the ensuing possession with a triple of his own from nearly the same spot on the other end of the floor to put the Yellow Jackets back in front by two with 19.1 seconds remaining.
DiSibio brought the ball up the floor and drove the lane on the right, before kicking the ball back out to Thomas outside the arc. Thomas caught the ball and calmy drained the go-ahead three pointer with 9.0 remaining on the clock. RMC’s Keishawn Pulley then lost his dribble looking for the tying shot, and DiSibio dove to the floor and covered the ball where he was fouled. DiSibio hit both free throws on the other end, and Thomas stole the full-court inbounds pass to end the game.
Despite leading by a point entering the second half, the Generals found themselves trailing by as many as 11 points with 9:40 left in the game. Senior Jack d’Entremont then scored five straight points to key a 10-3 W&L run to cut their deficit to 54-50 with seven minutes remaining. The Jackets grew their lead back to nine, before the Generals went on a 16-7 run until 1:14 remained, culminating in a John Loughlin three to tie the game at 66 all.
Both sides missed just one shot in the opening three minutes, as RMC made 3-of-4 attempts to 2-of-3 from the Blue and White to start with an 8-4 lead. The Generals then locked in on both ends of the court, going on a 20-7 run across the next 10:18 to gain a 24-15 lead, leading to a timeout by RMC after d’Entremont and DiSibio sank threes on back-to-back possessions. During the 20-7 stretch, W&L held the Jackets to just 3-of-13 shooting. Randolph-Macon closed the first half strongly, going on a 13-5 run to cut the W&L lead to 29-28 at the break. The Yellow Jackets made five of their final nine shot attempts in the first half, with two coming from outside the arc.
The Generals will play in the ODAC championship game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in the Salem Civic Center against No. 1 Hampden-Sydney, who defeated Virginia Wesleyan, 63-52, in Saturday’s second semifinal game in Salem.
On the women’s side of the ODAC tournament, Washington & Lee defeated Bridgewater 66-54 and Shenandoah defeated Roanoke 65-49. So the Generals and Hornets will play for the women’s ODAC championship at 3:30 p.m. in the Salem Civic Center.