Keydet Basketball Grabs First Victory With 80-50 Pounding Of UVA-Wise

Men's Basketball VMIKeydets.com

Keydet Basketball Grabs First Victory With 80-50 Pounding Of UVA-Wise

LEXINGTON, Va. - Reggie Williams scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and VMI placed three in double figures scoring as the Keydets rolled to an 80-50 over UVA-Wise Friday night at Cameron Hall.

It was the first VMI win for head basketball coach Duggar Baucom.

The Keydets (1-4) shot 50% for the game on 32 of 64 shooting, including 53.3% in the second half. VMI also canned a season-high nine 3-point shots and hit nine of 36 beyond the arc for 36%. The Keydets also dominated the boards, outrebounding the Highland Cavaliers, 53-30.

VMI assumed two 10-point leads midway in the first half, the later on a Murrer layup which put the Keydets up, 25-15 with 11:10 left in the half.

UVA-Wise fought back and cut the lead to 30-24 on a Parker Gemmel bucket with 7:05 remaining, but the Keydets countered with a 13-4 run for the duration of the half and took a 41-26 lead at the break.

The Keydets were never threatened in the second half and built the lead to as much as 33 points (80-47) with 1:50 left.

VMI freshman guard Travis Holmes turned in a season-high 13 points on five of seven shooting from the field including two of two beyond the arc. Holmes also finished with seven rebounds.

UVA-Wise shot 27.9% (9-37) and connected on six of 32 three-point shot attempts. The Highlander Cavaliers placed three in double figures scoring and were led by by Gemmel with 13 points. Zydrunas Rackauskas and Jarred Soles each added 10 points.

VMI generated a season-high 26 assists on the night.

VMI (1-4) faces Ferrum Monday night at Cameron Hall at 7:00 p.m. UVa-Wise (4-7) returns to action tomorrow afternoon to play Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. at 2:00 p.m.

VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom-
“I was pleased with the guys' effort...not great execution, but the effort was good. I was proud of that. I wasn't pleased with the way we finished in the Washington & Lee exhibition, but I was pleased the way they finished tonight. I told them that good teams are like sharks on blood, and I was pleased with the guys that went out there. I thought the last group when we had all the freshmen and all the brother rats out there at one time --they were competing and getting on the floor for some loose balls. When you do that when you're up 30, that builds habits, and you hope that carries over. We're still struggling a little bit inside scoring, but we did knock down shots. That helps, that loosens things up a bit. I thought Travis Holmes came out of his shell a little bit. That's the Travis Holmes I recruited and plan to see more of. Tonight Chavis (Holmes) struggled a bit but he had five assists and Sean was steady at the point tonight. We still have a little role definition ahead. Some people are trying to do too much. We'll have to get that straightened out before we start conference play.”
Print Friendly Version