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VMI Basketball Blocks 15 Shots, but Falls at Appalachian State, 83-64

BOONE, N.C.?VMI's Radee Skipworth scored a game-high 22 points and tallied six rebounds, but Chris
McFarland scored 21 points and finished with eight rebounds to lead Appalachian State University to an 83-64 victory. Owning the nation's top scoring offense, Appalachian (16-6, 9-2 SoCon) eclipsed 80 points in a win for the 15th time this season.

VMI (6-16, 1-10 SoCon) cut the margin to four, at 5:53 on LeVar Joseph's three-point field goal with 5:53 to play in the game, but Appalachian answered with a basket by McFarland, and a fastbreak lay-in by Matt Jones and a pair of charity tosses by Shawn Hall to stretch the lead to 10, at 64-54 with 3:36 left.

Joseph finished with 14 points off the bench for the Keydets. Richard Little registered a game-high nine assists, to go with his six rebounds and four points.

Nate Carson fought for his third double-double of the season, registering 18 points and 12 rebounds.
Carson was impressive inside, with three blocked shots and a pair of steals.

The Mountaineers' leading scorer, Shawn Hall netted 6-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the line to finish with 18 points. Josh Shehan paced all players with 13 caroms to go with his seven points.

Appalachian's largest lead of the first half stood at eight, after Nate Carson's lay-in made it 19-11 with 10:18 left in the opening frame. Fighting all night long, VMI battled back to take a 25-24 lead on Skipworth's jumper with 4:23 to play in the first period.

Appalachian netted 24-of-31 from the foul line (.774). VMI connected on 6-of-11 charity tries (.545)and held a 34-29 advantage at the intermission.

Outrebounded 53-38 by the home team, VMI stayed in the game by blocking a school record 15 shots,
breaking the old mark of 11 set against Central Wesleyan, during the 1977-78 campaign.

P.J. Bullock scored seven points in the final 43 seconds of the night to stretch the final margin to 19, at 83-64.

For Appalachian, it marked its 12th straight home win of the season and gave it a regular-season sweep of VMI. Wrapping up a series which has met twice each year since the 1972-73 campaign, VMI moves to the Big South next season trailing 28-37 in the all-time series.

Appalachian's 16-6 start to the season is its best since the 1999-2000 campaign.

On Saturday, Appalachian entertains College of Charleston in a battle of Southern Conference interdivi-sional leaders. Tip off at the Holmes Center is set for 1:00 p.m. VMI returns to Cameron Hall to host Western Carolina on Saturday. Start time is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on FOX Sports Net South.
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