LEXINGTON, Va. - Junior forward Preston Beverly (Monroe Township, N.J.) scored a career-high 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to help VMI prevail over a scrappy Bluefield College squad, 77-70, Monday night at Cameron Hall.
The Keydets placed four in double figures scoring and hit 13 of 15 free throws to move to 5-2 on the season, their best start in five years.
Sophomore Fred Robinson, making his second start at guard for the injured Levar Joseph, scored 13 points and hauled in a career-high eight rebounds. Freshman forward Reggie Williams also added 13 points and sophomore guard Matt Coward scored 10 points while dishing out a career-high 11 assists.
Senior center Jermaine Burcke scored 19 points to lead Bluefield in scoring and junior forward Cedric Brown added 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Rams.
VMI trailed 34-31 at the break, but busted out on an 8-0 run at the start of the second half to take the lead for good. Senior forward Sam Mielnik keyed the run with four points, including a pair of free throws to put VMI up 39-34 with 18:06 left in the half. The Rams closed to 41-40 on a Dontae Gholson layup with 16:37 left, but the Keydets answered seven straight points on a Robinson trey, a Beverly putback, and a Coward fastbreak layup keyed by a Beverly steal to assume a 48-40 lead with 15:06 remaining in regulation.
The Keydets gradually stretched the lead to as much as 15 points (73-58) when Beverly made a layup with three minutes left, but the Rams rallied with a 12-2 run and cut it to 75-70 on a Cedric Brown layup with 12.5 seconds left. Coward nailed two free throws at the :09 mark to preserve the win.
Both teams committed 23 turnovers, but the Keydets outrebounded the Rams, 41-31. Bluefield shot 51.7% from the floor on 31-60 shooting, but also sank just four of 15 free throws.
Corey Wade added 16 points for Bluefield (8-6, 5-2 AAC)
It was the first meeting between the teams in five years. The Keydets have won all 14 games in the series.
VMI will break for exams and will not play for the next 15 days. The Keydets will resume action on Tuesday, December 28, at University of New Orleans in a game that will tip off at 7:00 p.m. CST at the Alario Center.
VMI HEAD COACH BART BELLAIRS - We looked like we were in the bakery with all those turnovers. It was scary, but we found a way again. We made just enough nice plays and really got hungry on the boards, but that wasn't pretty. I was hoping to get more out of our guys to get some momentum going because we have to play better. We did some good things, but we have to take care of the basketball a little bit more than that. Give Bluefield the credit, they outplayed us and we were fortunate to win tonight. Those kids played very, very hard. I thought Preston (Beverly) did a good job and we did need a lift. We're going to have to put better basketball together and have seven or eight people have games like Preston had tonight. We can't just count on one player."
