BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The VMI basketball team completed its regular season on Saturday night with a 67-55 loss at Birmingham-Southern's Bill Battle Coliseum.
In the process, Birmingham-Southern claimed the Big South Conference regular season championship.
Sophomore guard James Collins scored 19 points to lead BSC, who improved to 20-7 overall and 12-4 in league play. Junior guard Jakob Sigurdarson added 12 points and eclipsed the 1,000 points mark in his career, becoming just the 17th player in school history to do so.
Senior Grant Davis finished his BSC career with his sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Senior Radee Skipworth scored 19 to lead the Keydets, (6-21, 4-12) while junior Tim Allmond chipped in 10.
The early going was rough for both teams as neither team reached double figures until a Collins' layup but BSC up 10-5 nine minutes deep into the contest. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Collins and Davis put the Panthers up 16-5 with 8:58 left in the first half.
A three-point play by Collins and another trey by Davis pushed the advantage to 24-10 at the 6:40 mark. BSC took its largest lead of the game at the 2:10 mark when senior guard Derrick Williams stole a pass and raced to the other end for a layup to make it 34-15. BSC led 36-20 at the break.
VMI opened up the second half on a 9-3 run and cut the margin to 39-29 after four straight points from Matt Coward. But consecutive trifectas by Sigurdarson and Collins pushed the lead back to 45-31 at the 14:25 mark.
The Panthers maintained their lead as Sigurdarson nailed another trey and Sredrick Powe added a layup, giving BSC a 52-35 lead with 10:30 to play.
After VMI cut the lead to 12, the Panthers put the game away when, after a monstrous block by Powe, Sigurdarson found Collins in transition for a three to make it 64-47 with just 3:15 left.
In a game that featured 50 fouls and 39 turnovers, BSC won the battle of the boards 36-26, led by Davis' eighth double-digit rebounding performance. The outing also assured Davis of the Big South rebounding title.
BSC shot 47.8 percent from the field, hitting 22 of 46 shots. The Panthers made just 8-of-21 (38 percent) from behind the arc, and only converted on 15-of-30 free throws.
But the Panthers' defense held the Keydets to just 4-of-19 shooting (21 percent) from behind the arc for the game. VMI shot 40.5 percent (17-of42) overall.
Sigurdarson, who also dished out a game-best six assists, joined the 1,000-point club with a pair of free throws at the 7:51 mark of the first half. He finished the night with 1,008 career points, placing him 15th on the all-time scoring list.
The Keydets will open the Big South Tournament at High Point on Tuesday night at 7:00.
The Panthers, who registered their 25th 20-win season in history, 12 of which have come under head coach Duane Reboul, will now play the waiting game in regards to a possible NIT postseason berth. BSC is not eligible to compete in this season's Advance Auto Parts Big South Conference Tournament. NIT bids will be handed out Sunday, March 14 following the announcement of the field of 65 NCAA Tournament teams.
