LEXINGTON, Va. - Senior forward Reggie Williams scored 38 points to help lead VMI to a 135-81 win over West Virginia Wesleyan in the Keydets' home opener Wednesday night at Cameron Hall.
Williams hit 18 of 27 shots from the field and grabbed nine rebounds as VMI (1-2) secured its first win of the year.
The Keydets hit 57 of 114 shots from the field (50%) and forced 39 West Virginia Wesleyan turnovers which led to 54 points. The Keydets also held a 55-43 advantage on the boards including 32 on the offensive glass which led to 41 second chance points.
Freshman guard Justin Caldwell led West Virginia Wesleyan in scoring with 15 points while senior forward Karlois Stupnianek scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
The Keydets raced to a 23-4 lead over the first 5:30 of the game and never looked back. A Travis Holmes layup at the 11:51 mark of the first half made it 31-11 and VMI went on a 21-4 run late in the half capping the spurt on a Hunter Houston jumper that pushed the lead to 44 points (65-21) at the 4:17 mark of the half. VMI continued to add to the lead with pressure defense and points off turnovers and assumed its biggest lead of the half at the buzzer when a Williams layup propelled the Keydets to a 51-point cushion, 84-33, at the break as the Bobcats committed 27 turnovers in the opening half.
With 84 first half points, VMI set a new school record for most points in a half eclipsing the old mark of 78 set last year against Virginia Intermont (Nov. 15, 2006).
The Keydets led by as many as 65 points in the second half when Joey Cantafio's 3-pointer at the 4:31 mark put VMI up, 134-69.
VMI dished out 38 assists for the game and was led by Adam Lonon who had nine assists - all but one coming before halftime.
The Keydets (1-2) next face James Madison University next Wednesday at Cameron Hall at 7:00 p.m.
HEAD COACH DUGGAR BAUCOM - "I was really proud of the way the guys came out the first four minutes. The first half was about as good as we can play. Adam Lonon in the first half was absolutely awesome. He had eight assists and four steals in the first half and he made a three-the first of his college career. In the second half, we came out and I thought we played the scoreboard a little bit which I wasn't real keen on. We had a lot of looks but we couldn't knock down shots. We had a lot of easy baskets coming off of turnovers in the first half, but we have to shoot better than 24% from 3-point range. Defensively, I was very pleased. Offensively, the transition offense was good and we shared the ball.
