LEXINGTON, Va. ? In front of the largest crowd in Cameron Hall history, the visiting Liberty Flames ended VMI's 10-game winning streak Saturday afternoon at Cameron Hall, prevailing 91-80 in a Big South contest.
With the loss, the Keydets drop to 14-3 on the season, and 6-1 in Big South action. Liberty's win pushes the Flames to 13-6 and 4-3 in conference play.
The 5,029 fans in attendance set a new Cameron Hall record, surpassing the previous high set in a game against North Carolina on Dec. 15, 1997. The overflow crowd saw the Keydets open the game on a 7-2 run, as Liberty had three turnovers in the opening three minutes. The Flames responded quickly, and took their first lead of the game at 14:35 on a Kyle Ohman three-pointer, 10-9.
The Keydets answered the Liberty spurt, putting together an 8-0 run beginning at the 10:34 mark to pull ahead and take a 23-16 lead. It would prove to be VMI's largest lead on the day, and it did not last long, as the Flames went on a 7-0 run to tie the score on an Anthony Smith three-pointer with 6:20 left in the opening half.
Austin Kenon hit a trey to give the Keydets the 26-23 advantage, but Liberty's Seth Curry scored the game's next nine points on a trio of three-pointers to give the visitors a 32-26 edge with just three minutes to play in the first half. All told, Liberty ended the half on a 16-4 run to give the Flames a 39-30 halftime advantage.
In the opening 20 minutes of play, Curry had 20 points to lead the visitors, thanks to his 4-of-5 performance from three-point range. Big South Preseason Player of the Year Anthony Smith had a double-double in the first half, thanks to 11 points and 11 rebounds. Liberty had a 10-0 edge in second chance points in the opening frame, helped by its 26-15 rebounding advantage.
The second half saw the Flames begin to pull away. Liberty took a 13-point lead on a Smith dunk with 17:17 to play, and stretched it to 16 after a pair of Curry free throws. VMI then mounted what would prove to be its final run.
The Keydets went on a 9-0 push, as four Austin Kenon points helped VMI chop the deficit down to just seven, but Liberty had the answer. Six straight points after a media timeout stretched the Flames' advantage back to 13, and the Keydets could not get within single digits again. Liberty stretched its lead to as many as 20 with six minutes to play, and VMI could only get within 11 by the final buzzer.
The Keydets were led by Kenon in the defeat, as the sophomore guard tallied 21 points in the setback. Chavis Holmes had 17 markers, while Keith Gabriel had 16 for the home squad. VMI forced 25 turnovers, but could only convert 21 points off those miscues. The Keydets shot just 9-of-30 (30%) from three-point range, accounting for the fewest three-point field goals against a Big South opponent this season. In addition, the Flames outrebounded VMI 48-30 on the afternoon.
Liberty was paced by Curry, the top-scoring freshman in the country, who had a career-high 35 points for the Flames. Smith finished with 21 points and a career-best 17 rebounds to help Liberty hand the Keydets their first Big South loss of the season and first home loss since March 1, 2008.
The Keydets return to action Wednesday, as they travel to Radford, Va., to take on the Radford Highlanders. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the Dedmon Center.
Quotes --- VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom:
“Credit Liberty with having a great game plan and executing it. They played really well and we didn't play so well.”
“If they are going to guard you on the perimeter, you have to get it to the rim. We got to the rim and didn't finish some in the first half. You just have to finish around the basket. There were a lot of one-on-one plays ...just nine assists for us ? that's not what we do. In the first half I thought we got really selfish there.”
“We've made shots all year, but today was one of those days where we just didn't make those shots. Austin Kenon certainly had a subpar game for him, he made some late, but in crunch time when it really mattered he struggled a little bit and pressed and Keith struggled a little bit.
“With Travis.out, we've had some guys step up on different nights with career-highs. Today, we not only didn't have guys step up, but guys didn't get their normal game, and that's a recipe for disaster.”
“Seth Curry is a good player. We let him get going in the first half. And when they are out there shooting free throws with 15 minutes to go in the second half, you know it's going to be a long day.”
