ROCK HILL, S.C. - The Winthrop Eagles powered their way to an 85-41 win over VMI Wednesday night at Winthrop Coliseum and secured sole possession of second place in the Big South standings with the win.
Playing without leading scorer
Reggie Williams who was sidelined with a leg injury, VMI struggled to post its lowest point total in a game during head coach Duggar Baucom's three-year tenure. VMI shot a season-low 22.4% from the floor (11-49) and failed to place a player in double figures scoring.
Freshman forward
Hunter Houston led the Keydets in scoring with nine points while junior guard
Travis Holmes had eight points, but scored only one point after halftime.
Sophomore Mantoris Robinson paced the Eagles with 18 points and hit 9 of 14 shots from the field while freshman guard Justin Burton hit four three-pointers on his way to a 16-point night.
VMI (10-8, 2-2) scored the first basket of the game and took a 3-0 lead at the 18:36 of the first half on a
Travis Holmes 3-pointer. It turned out to be VMI's only lead of the game as Winthrop, capitalizing on VMI turnovers, reeled off 15 straight points capping the run on a Chris Gaynor 3-pointer at the 14:49 mark. The Keydets closed within 16-10 on a
Christian Hunter 3-pointer at the 11:26 mark, but Winthrop outpointed VMI 21-7 for the remainder of the half. The Eagles led by as many as 23 points when junior center Andy Buechert nailed a jumper with 2:31 left.
VMI trailed 37-17 at the half and was unable to make a run after intermission. The Eagles largest lead of the game came at the 1:57 mark on a Byron Faison jumper.
Winthrop (12-7, 3-1) outrebounded the Keydets, 56-30 on the boards, and was led by Buechert's 12 rebounds.
VMI set season lows in field goals (11), assists (6), and committed a season-high 25 turnovers.
The 41 points logged undercut the previous low mark for a Baucom coached VMI team - a 59-48 setback at Charleston Southern on February 18, 2006.
VMI will return home to Cameron Hall to face in-state conference foe Liberty Monday night at 7 p.m.
VMI head coach Duggar Baucom - "I'm proud of the freshman. They went out there and played hard at the end and competed. But we came out of the locker room and challenged some guys telling them that they're going to have to step up, being the three juniors, and we got absolutely nothing from any of them. You're not going to win like that and it turns ugly quickly because they are a good team. We live and learn and go to the next one. We were one for three in shots and had six turnovers in the first four minutes. That's because guys were trying to do their own thing and not doing what they're supposed to do. They (Winthrop) are tough and they have a lot of tradition here and a swagger about them and we just kind of cowered down to them. It was a learning experience for everyone."
