ORANGEBURG, S.C. - VMI lost its second close game in a row and remained winless on the road following a heartbreaking 89-88 loss at S.C. State Tuesday night.
VMI's fate was sealed when junior guard Travis Holmes missed a driving layup with two seconds left in regulation and senior forward Reggie Williams stick back at the buzzer was waved off and an offensive foul was assessed to Williams with 1.8 seconds left.
S.C. State's Chris Miller-Williams missed two free throws, giving VMI once last shot, but Williams desperation heave from mid-court was too strong off the backboard.
Williams led VMI in scoring with 24 points and 11 rebounds and logged his 19th career double-double.
VMI, which dropped a two-point game to Army last Saturday in Lexington, fell to 3-5 while S.C. State improved to 3-4 and has won three of its last four.
Junior guard Travis Holmes scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds while junior guard Chavis Holmes added 16 points and hit four of six shots from 3-point range but was held scoreless in the second half. Freshman guard Austin Kenon added 11 points for the Keydets.
S.C. State capitalized on balanced scoring and had six players score at least eight points. Carrion Bennett scored 14 points, Everett Spencer added 13 points and Jason Flagler and Jason Johnson each chipped in 12 points.
VMI built a 52-44 lead at halftime behind strong outside shooting and canned 10 of 21 three-point shots for 47.6% in the opening half. Chavis Holmes led the way by going four for four beyond the arc.
The Keydets assumed their biggest lead of the game, 68-56, when Williams converted one of two free throws at the 14:02 mark of the second half.
S.C. State rallied with 13 straight points over the next three minutes with six different players contributing to the run. Jesse Burton started the spurt with a free throw followed 3-point buckets by Robert Baker and Derrick Davis, a tip-in by Jason Flagler, a Jason Johnson dunk, and a Bennett jumper which gave the Bulldogs their first lead since the mid-way part of the first half.
A Travis Holmes layup at the 10:42 mark would stand as VMI's last lead (70-69) of the night but the Keydets didn't trail by more than six points the rest of the way and back to back baskets by T. Holmes pulled within one point (89-88) with 16 seconds left.
VMI, which missed several uncontested layups and short jumpers in the second half during its dry spell, saw its floor shooting sink to 34% for the half after going 56% from the field in the first half.
VMI returns home Saturday to face Howard University at Cameron Hall. Tipoff is 1:00 p.m. The game can be watched live on the internet on “The Edge” at www. bigsouthsports.com.
