JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - VMI's longest road trip of the year turned out to produce the longest night of the young season as a charged up Jacksonville State squad handed VMI a 95-67 setback Saturday at Pete Mathews Coliseum in Jacksonville, Ala.
Jeremy Bynum scored 24 points and Geddes Robinson added 20 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Gamecocks to a 4-1 mark.
Chavis Holmes scored 20 points, all in the second half, to lead VMI in scoring. The Keydets saw their three-game win streak snapped and fell to 4-2 on the season.
JSU shot 61% from the floor, including 70.0% in the second half and dished out 31 assists ? 10 each coming from guards Deandre Bray and Jonathan Toles. The Gamecocks also outrebounded VMI 50-30 on the boards.
VMI shot a season-low 32.9% including 24.2% in the opening half when they connected on just 8 of 33 shot attempts.
The Gamecocks, fresh off their biggest road win in school history (75-74 over UMass), started in strong fashion and never trailed in regulation. JSU raced to a 20-4 lead following a Bray jumper at the 12:44 mark. The opening run included 16 points by Jeremy Bynum who torched the nets with three baseline treys.
The Keydets sliced the first half deficit to eight points (24-16) when Austin Kenon drained a three-pointer with 7:29 left and trailed by just nine points with five minutes left, but the Gamecocks scored the last 17 points of the half to assume a 47-20 lead at the break as five different JSU players scored during the spurt.
The Keydets responded with a 11-2 run out of the chute in the second half as Chavis Holmes dropped in five quick points to aid the run and Kenon canned a trey at 18:07 to pull VMI within 49-31 less than two minutes in the half. But the Gamecocks had the lead back up to 25 points three minutes later when Brandon Crawford converted a layup to cap a 10-3 run.
VMI could close no closer than 16 points the rest of the way and trailed 63-47 following a pair of free throws from Travis Holmes with 11:34 left. Jacksonville finished regulation with a 32-10 string and led by as many as 33 points with a minute left.
The Keydets committed 22 turnovers and were outscored 58-30 in the paint as the Gamecock guards spaced, drove, and dished off for layups throughout the night.
VMI converted 14 of 17 free throws for one of its few bright spots of the game.
The Keydets open Big South Conference action Wednesday night at Cameron Hall when they face defending champion Winthrop in a televised game by MASN beginning at 9 p.m.
Jacksonville State returns to action Tuesday night when it travels to Norfolk, Va. to play Norfolk State at 6 p.m.
VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom ? “We were terrible...absolutely terrible, and it started with our seniors. We were one of nine with eight turnovers between those three in the first half and we were absolutely horrible in every phase of the first half. We got bombarded. The minute we took the floor, it was not good. We had a good practice yesterday, as we thought it would carry over, but it was an embarrassment. When we can't dribble, catch and pass, we are going to make a lot of people look good. Ron Burks has continued to play well for us. Hopefully, we can put this one away and get ready for Winthrop. “
