LEXINGTON, Va. - Army sophomore guard Jarrell Brown hit a driving layup with 1.9 seconds to lift Army past VMI, 53-49, in the season opener before a crowd of 3,118 at Cameron Hall Monday night.
In a closely contested and hard fought game, VMI built a 41-35 lead with 7:13 left when freshman guard Chavis Holmes drilled a 3-pointer. But the Black Knights rallied with an 18-8 run over the last 5:50 of regulation, starting with a Brown 3-pointer, his first of 13 points scored over the stretch.
The Keydets (0-1) tied the game at 49-49 with 59 seconds remaining on a pair of Reggie Williams free throws. Brown missed a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession but Army guard Marshall Jackson rebounded with 26 seconds left. The Black Knights (2-1) ran the clock down before Brown's driving shot in the lane put Army up for good.
VMI was unable to get off a shot in the final 1.9 seconds as Travis Holmes' inbound pass was picked off at halfcourt by Jackson, who drove and scored the game's final bucket which was allowed despite an apparent malfunction that prevented the clock from restarting.
Brown led the Black Knights with 21 points and was the only Army player to reach double figures.
Williams led all scorers with 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and was VMI's lone double-figures scorer.
VMI outrebounded Army, 36-33, but was limited by cold free throw shooting as the Keydets went seven of 16 from the stripe for 43.8%. Williams hit six of seven from the line, but the rest of the VMI squad went a combined 1-of-9.
In a game that featured five ties and seven lead changes, VMI began the contest by hitting its four of its first five shots from the floor including its first three 3-point attempts. The Keydets built an 11-5 lead at the 16:35 mark when Williams canned a 3-pointer and held the lead throughout the half until the 4:50 mark when Brown nailed a 3-pointer to give Army its first lead of the night, 18-17. The Keydets went almost nine minutes without a field goal before Williams hit a running 17-footer at the buzzer to cut the halftime deficit to 22-21.
Army built its largest lead of the game when Jimmy Sewell hit a layup with 18:12 left to put Army up, 26-21. But the Keydets responded with an 8-0 run capped by Travis Holmes' basket to put VMI ahead, 29-26 with 16:23 remaining.
Junior forward Matt Murrer led the Keydets on the boards with eight rebounds while Army's Corbin Bates paced the Black Knights with six boards.
Army missed 17 of its first 21 three-point attempts, but finished by going four of eight beyond the arc. VMI fired at 46.2% (7-16) in 3-point tries.
The Keydets travel to face N.C. State Wednesday night in Raleigh. Tipoff will be 7:00 p.m. Army faces The Citadel Saturday at West Point at 1:00 p.m.
VMI and Army will face each other again Dec. 8 at West Point, N.Y.
