LEXINGTON, Va. - Senior forward Radee Skipworth (Hershey, Pa.) scored a season-high 26 points, including 17 in the second half, to lead VMI to a 68-61 come-from-behind victory over Winthrop Saturday afternoon in Big South basketball action at Cameron Hall.
It was VMI's second straight win and moved the Keydets to 3-6 in the BSC and 5-14 overall. The Keydets also avenged an earlier 78-62 setback to Winthrop on Jan. 10 in Rock Hill, S.C.
VMI trailed 46-37 when Winthrop's Marcus Cooke converted a layup with 11:22 left in the second half, but the Keydets exploded on a 23-5 run over the next seven plus minutes to turn the tables. VMI capped the spurt with a Richard Little free throw with 3:55 left that gave VMI a 60-51 lead. Freshman forward Matt Murrer contributed seven points during the run while Skipworth tallied six points.
The Eagles (11-10, 5-5) cut the deficit to six (65-59) on a jumper by Tyrone Walker with 1:26 left, but could not convert a field goal again until Walker layed in a rebound at the :03 mark with the game all but decided.
"We had the killer instinct today," said VMI coach Bart Bellairs."It was fun to watch and everyone who went into the ballgame helped us. It was just great effort."
VMI shot 40.9 % in the first half, but hit 11 of its first 15 field goal attempts in the second half and finished the frame at 65%. The Keydets finished the contest shooting 53.3% (24-45) from the floor - their highest performance against a Division I opponent this season.
Winthrop outrebounded VMI on the boards 21-7 in the first half and led 28-24 at the break, but the Keydets bounced back to hold an 18-15 advantage on the boards after intermission. VMI held the Eagles to 41.8 shooting for the game -marking the third straight game VMI had held an opponent under 42% from the field.
Murrer added 12 points for the Keydets on five of six shooting while junior forward Sam Mielnik chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds. Little logged eight assists, giving him 15 over his last two games, while backcourt mate Matt Coward dished out seven assists.
Walker paced VMI with 21 points and senior forward Marcus Cooke added 15 points. Junior guard Brandon Key, who scored 20 points in Winthrop's win over VMI Jan. 10, was scoreless in 38 minutes played and missed all six shots from the field.
Skipworth, who scored just nine combined points in losses to Liberty and Coastal Carolina last week, has averaged 21.0 points in VMI victories the past two contests. The Hershey, Pa. native went 10 of 15 from the floor against the Eagles on Saturday.
VMI travels to Radford Wednesday night to face the Highlanders at 7:30 at the Dedmon Center. Winthrop will host Coastal Carolina Wednesday night at 7:00 in Rock Hill, S.C.
MORE BART BELLAIRS QUOTES - "We had been struggling all year long offensively, so, you have to pick it up on the defensive end. We had been playing pretty good offense all year long, but our offense had struggled. We kind of had it today where we walked it up sometimes and ran it up in spots, and we didn't tire out. I thought it was real good defense today, but pretty good defense as well."
"Radee (Skipworth) just plays hard. He's a warrior. He's a great kid. But when you look at the game Fred (Robinson) hit a big shot - Matt (Murrer) hit a big shot, everybody hit key shots during the game."
