N. CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Junior guard Travis Holmes hit two free throws with 2.5 seconds left in overtime to lift VMI to a 93-91 overtime win over Charleston Southern Saturday night at CSU Field House.
VMI (9-6) won its sixth game over the last seven contests and posted its first conference opener win since joining the Big South four years ago and also the first since the 1998-99 season when started the Southern Conference schedule 2-0. It's VMI's best overall start since the Keydets were 10-5 through 15 games in 1997-98.
Senior forward Reggie Williams hit a driving layup with :25 left in OT to tie the score at 91-91. Following a VMI timeout, Charleston Southern worked the clock down but missed a 3-point attempt by freshman Jamarco Warren and on the ensuing scramble for the rebound Travis Holmes was fouled by Austin Johnson with 2.5 left. Holmes nailed the two free throws to put VMI on top for good, but the Keydets had to knock away a long inbound pass into the frontcourt to secure the win.
Williams scored 30 points and grabbed eight rebounds for his fifth 30-point game of the season and 22nd for his career while Travis Holmes notched his third double-double of the season as he led the Keydets with 13 rebounds.
Junior guard Chavis Holmes added 22 points and drained six of ten 3-point tries for the Keydets, who connected on 15 treys for the game.
VMI survived a 3-point barrage by CSU which hit 17 triples on 43 attempts including a school record eight 3-pointers each for senior guard Chris Moore and freshman guard Jamarco Warren. Moore led the Bucs with 28 points while Warren finished with 26.
CSU fell to 6-10, 0-1 BSC.
The Bucs led for the first seven minutes of the game, building as much as a five point lead on one occasion. CSU led 14-12, but the Keydets reeled off a 16-2 run including 11 straight points and built as much as a 14-point lead (33-19) on a 3-pointer by Chavis Holmes with 5:26 left in the half. VMI led 33-24 at the break.
The Keydets pushed their advantage to double digits several times in the second half and led 64-54 when Travis Holmes swished a 3-pointer with 9:46 left, but CSU quickly shot themselves back in the game behind a 3-point flurry headed by Warren and Moore. A 20-7 Buc run over a span of five minutes pushed CSU back on top 74-71 with 3:50 left in regulation. The teams dueled to the end of the half with the Keydets taking an 80-78 lead on a Reggie Williams 3-pointer with 1:30 remaining, but a Omar Carter layup at 1:07 would ultimately send the teams on an OT session.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by freshman guard Austin Kenon gave VMI a 89-85 lead early in OT, but the Bucs scored six straight points capping the run on a Moore FT with :36 left to take a 91-89 lead. Williams pulled the Keydets even at 91-91 with his driving layup to set up Holmes' eventual game-winning free throws.
With 10 rebounds to go with his 30-points, Williams rung up his 25th double-double of his career. The Keydets dished out 22 assists for the game and were led by Lonon with eight assists, the second highest this season for the Richmond, native.
With 16 points, Travis Holmes inched closer to 1,000 career points and now has 987.
VMI continues the Palmetto State swing Monday night at Conway, S.C. facing Coastal Carolina, a 76-75 winner over Radford in its BSC opener Saturday. Tip-off at Kimbel Arena will be 7:00 p.m.
VMI HEAD COACH DUGGAR BAUCOM ? “Credit Charleston Southern. They gave us their best punch over and over and the guys just kept responding. That was tough for anybody to lose that game. We had to live on a basket of layups, and they couldn't miss from three. We had a couple of shots that missed down and in from point blank range. Travis had a couple of those close misses, but he stepped up and made two big ones when it mattered. Credit our guys because they persevered and made plays at the end and came up with a big rebound. I'm glad we were able to hold up. We'll take a road win, especially since we were the only Big South team to win on the road Saturday.”
Charleston Southern Falls in Overtime (VMI-CSU game story) Charleston, S.C. Post and Courier, January, 12, 2008)
