LEXINGTON, Va. - Junior forward Matt Murrer scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds and sophomore forward Reggie Williams posted his second consecutive double-double game (17 points, 10 rebounds) as VMI rolled to a 97-74 win at Cameron Hall Monday night.
The Keydets placed five in double figures scoring and won their second straight game of the season to move to 2-4. Ferrum dropped its second straight and fell to 1-6.
VMI shot 51.4% for the game and held a 53-36 advantage on the boards.
Other Keydets hitting double figures were senior forward Preston Beverly and freshman guard Travis Holmes who each scored a season-high 15 points. Senior center Tadas Mankevicius also chipped in a season high 12 points.
Ferrum guard Rob Fuller led all scorers with 24 points, but was limited to just four points in the second half after putting on a shooting display in the first half.
The Panthers outside shooting made it a tight contest in the first half as Ferrum hit nine of 18 beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes and led by as many as seven points early in the game. Fuller connected on four of five from long range in the first half that saw two ties and 12 lead changes before an 8-0 spurt by VMI over the last two minutes of the frame turned the momentum towards the Keydets. A running 38-footer at the buzzer by Chavis Holmes at the buzzer gave the Keydets a 50-46 advantage at the break.
The Keydets lead was just 57-54, following a layup by Panther guard Keith Harris at the 16:07 mark, but VMI responded with an 11-0 run to push the lead into double-digits for the first time. A Williams 3-pointer capped the spurt with 12:49 left, putting the Keydets ahead, 68-54.
The Panthers were unable to shave the deficit back into single digits, and fell behind by as many as 25 points in the game's final minute. Ferrum hit just 2-11 three-point shots in the second half after scorching the nets in the first half.
Harris scored 13 points before fouling out and Rafael Holland added 11 points.
Sophomore guard Sean Christiansen dished out seven assists and Chavis Holmes added six assists for the Keydets.
VMI faces Army Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m. at West Point, N.Y. in a rematch of the Keydet season opener two weeks ago. Army downed VMI 53-49 at Cameron Hall on November 21.
VMI HEAD COACH DUGGAR BAUCOM-"The first half, we kind of played like the weather outside (snow), but the second half some guys stepped up. I thought we got them to play a little bit more our tempo, and I thought we played a little bit better in the second half. Preston (Beverly) stepped up. We kind of challenged him a little bit at halftime and he played much better in the second half. I thought that group we had out there with the Holmes' brothers, Preston, and Willie Bell, and Reggie, uplifted us a little bit and got us going. That helped us because we were pretty sluggish."
"We gave up 20 on Fuller in the first half and thank goodness held him to four in the second half. He's a good player and he got a lot of open looks in the first half. We just came out with no energy, just flat, just not very good. I don't know if we took them lightly - I was real displeased at halftime and I thought it was by far our poorest half of the year."
"The balanced scoring is the way we'd like to have it every night. I thought we got out there tonight and ran a lot better, but we still missed layups."
"I excited about getting another opportunity at Army and I'm sure the guys will be, too. We're going back up there and I just hope we play better, play more like a team which we are capable of doing. I think we are much more of a team now than we were that first night. They (Army) are playing well. They are no slouches."
