LEXINGTON, Va. - Kenny George, the 7-7 junior center, hit a lay-in with :11 left in OT to put UNC Asheville up for good as the Bulldogs outlasted VMI in overtime 90-87.
UNCA (14-4, 3-0) remained undefeated in Big South Conference play while VMI (10-7, 2-1) suffered its first league loss of the year and had its four-game win streak snapped.
VMI took a 87-86 lead on a
Reggie Williams jumper :37 left in the extra frame. On the ensuing possession, junior forward Reid August missed a jumper, but the Keydets could not lock up on the rebound before it skipped out along the baseline with 12.8 seconds left. George, who had watched the game from the bench for the entire game up to that point, was hastily summoned by UNC Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach and positioned himself in the paint to take an inbounds lob-in from K.J. Garland. George took the toss and easily hit the lay-in towering over Keydet defenders.
The Keydets turned the ball over on the next possession, and senior guard Bryan Smithson nailed two free throws with 5.6 left for the final margin.
The game was not decided until Williams 3-point try from the top of the key fell short as the buzzer sounded.
Williams led the Keydets in scoring with 23 points and career-high 19 rebounds, marking his fifth straight double-double and 27th of his career.
The Bulldogs, who drained 13 of 37 shots beyond the arc, were led by sophomore guard Sean Smith who hit five three-balls on his way for 17 points and senior forward Vincent James added 17 points.
The battle between the league unbeatens drew a crowd of 4,219, the third largest crowd in Cameron Hall history. The new floor, "Costen Court", was officially dedicated in pregame ceremonies in tribute to Ralph Costen '70, whose family flooring business performed the work last summer.
The game saw nine ties, 13 lead changes and neither team led by more than an eight-point margin.
UNCA senior guard K. J. Garland hit a 24-foot three-pointer with 0.4 left in regulation to send the game into overtime.
VMI led 28-20 following a Williams dunk with 6:30 left in the first half. But the Bulldogs later responded with a 9-2 to run to pull even at 40-40 on a John Williams 3-pointer with 1:33 remaining. VMI took a 45-43 lead at halftime.
UNCA got off to a quick start after halftime and built its largest lead of the game (51-46) on a three-point play by James at the 18:41 mark. The Keydets later led 75-70 with 7:07 remaining in regulation on a
Travis Holmes 3-pointer, but UNCA countered with a 7-0 run to nudge ahead 77-75 at the 4:12 mark. VMI retook the lead, 80-77, on a
Reggie Williams with 2:34 left in regulation but the game remained scoreless until Garland's clutch trey which forced overtime.
VMI committed 21 turnovers to just eight for UNCA marking only the second time this season VMI had turned the ball over more than its opponent. The Bulldogs capitalized holding a 24-9 advantage in points off turnovers. The Keydets led in rebounding (44-36) and outshot UNCA 53% to 44% for the game, but hit just two of seven shots from the floor in overtime. Williams was held to just six points after halftime.
Smithson added 14 points for the Bulldogs while junior forward Reid Augst tossed in 13 points. VMI got double-figures scoring from freshman guard
Christian Hunter (12 points, four 3-pointers), junior guard
Chavis Holmes (11 points) and sophomore guard
Adam Lonon (10 points).
VMI returns to play its sixth road game in eight contests Wednesday night when it faces Winthrop at 7:00 p.m. in Rock Hill, S.C. UNCA hosts Radford Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.
VMI HEAD COACH DUGGAR BAUCOM - "We didn't make plays when it mattered. We were right there, up three and go to the foul line with :11 left (in regulation) and we don't make the one-and-one, and we turned it over the two possessions before that. We should have won it in regulation. We played great defense on that last shot (Garland) and he shot over three hands and made it with .4 and that's the way it goes. Garland only had nine, but he hit big when it mattered. I was disappointed in our turnovers. Passing and catching and shooting is our forte. We certainly took care of the shooting part to shoot 53% in that game and that's after shooting 28% in overtime - but the passing and catching wasn't there. It's stuff we work on everyday, but you just don't ever know which play is going to get you beat."
Colossal Cameo (VMI-UNCA game story) Roanoke Times, January 20, 2008)
New, exciting day dawns for resurging Keydet basketball (VMI-UNCA feature article, Aaron McFarling) Roanoke Times, January 20, 2008)
NOTES---
Reggie Williams,
Travis Holmes, and
Chavis Holmes were all presented commemorative basketballs in pregame cermonies. Williams recently became the all-time leading scorer in Big South history while the Holmes twins each surpassed 1,000 points for a career over the past month.
--- Freshman guard
Austin Kenon (Virginia Beach, Va.) will not play for the remainder of the 2007-08 season, VMI head coach Duggar Baucom announced prior to Saturday's tipoff.
"For privacy reasons, I cannot elaborate on the specifics of Austin's situation," said Baucom. "He remains on the team and will practice with the squad as he continues his cadetship at VMI. Austin has certainly had a big impact on our team in the games played his freshman year, but we will have to carry on without him on the court for the rest of the season."
Kenon appeared in 16 games and was fourth on the team in scoring with a 12.3 average. He leads the Keydets in 3-point goals with 57 as well as 3-point shooting, hitting 40.4% which ranked fifth in the Big South. He was twice named Big South Freshman of the Week in consecutive weeks after scoring a career-high 25 points at William & Mary Dec, 20 and tallying 18 points against Richmond Dec. 30 and 15 points against Mercer Jan. 2. Kenon had connected on 28 treys over the last six games.
