Salem, Va. -- With its 84-83 victory over Washington and Lee University on Friday night, University of Lynchburg men's basketball moved on to the semifinal round of the 2020 Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament. 

First-team All-ODAC player T.C. Thacker led the Hornets (15-11) in scoring with 26 points and in rebounds (11) to record his 10th double-double of the year. For the third time this season, senior Chance Greene eclipsed the 20 point mark, scoring 24. Greene shot 8-for-9 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Lynchburg started the game hot and took an early 22-8 lead on a Greene 3-pointer with 12:29 in the first half. The Hornets continued to lead through the half and took a 50-43 lead into the break.

The Hornets continued to lead until the middle of the second, when the Generals' Mark Lamendola hit a layup at the 12:15 mark, giving W&L its first lead of the game, 63-62. It did not last long as a Thacker free throw tied the game at 63 with 11:58 left to play. Both teams traded blows for the remainder.

With 4:00 left in the second half, the Generals (20-6) took a four-point lead after a 3-pointer from Kevin Dennin. The Hornets responded right away as Greene hit a jumper from downtown to cut the W&L lead to just one, 80-79.

After some early shots failed to fall, senior Cody Lang found the basket with 1:49 left to put the Hornets up 81-80. Late free throws from Thacker and junior Tharon Suggs extended the Hornets' lead to 84-80. On the final possession of the game, Lynchburg's inbound pass was stolen by the Generals, but a last-minute 3-pointer failed to fall, sending the Hornets to the semifinals.

The nightcap quarterfinal contest saw three ties and four separate lead changes as the Hornets led by as many as 14 and the Generals led by four.

It was Lynchburg's first win in Salem since 2016, when Lynchburg won the league title.

Greene crossed a couple of milestones in the game, moving up to second on Lynchburg's all-time made 3-pointers leaderboard and becoming the fifth player in program history to reach 300 career assists.

The Hornets move on to Saturday's 8 p.m. semifinal, where they will take on No. 16-ranked Virginia Wesleyan. The two teams split their regular-season matchups, each claiming the home contest. The winner of that game will take on the winner of No. 5 Randolph-Macon and Roanoke in Sunday's championship.

--LYN--