LEXINGTON, Va. ? In a crucial battle for first place in the Big South, the VMI Keydets knocked off the Radford Highlanders 87-72 Wednesday night in a conference matchup played at the Dedmon Center in Radford.
With the win, the Keydets move to 15-3, and retake sole possession of first place in the Big South with a 7-1 mark. Radford drops to 9-10 overall as the Highlanders' five-game win streak ends, and they now hold a 6-2 mark in league play.
VMI forced 22 turnovers on the night, and converted those Radford miscues into a crucial 30 points, helping the visitors overcome a 13-0 game-opening run.
Before the game, VMI received good news, as Travis Holmes was in the starting lineup for the first time since the New Year's Eve contest with Richmond. It did not appear to help initially, as Radford started the game on a 13-0 run. The Keydets shot 0-for-8 prior to the under-16 media timeout, and turned the ball over twice during the Highlander spurt. The Keydets attempted six consecutive three-pointers, and missed them all.
However, the final four points of that run, concluding with a Joey Lynch-Flohr jumper at the 15:55 mark, would be the final time Radford scored four unanswered points for more than 20 minutes of play.
VMI got on the board with a pair of Travis Holmes free throws at the 15:25 mark, and from there, the Keydets went on a 14-3 run that included three-pointers on four straight possessions.
With a strong contingent of VMI faithful on its feet, the Keydets got within one on a Travis Holmes free throw at 10:43, 20-19. On the ensuing possession, Radford guard Chris McEachin was trapped along the right sideline, as Ron Burks and Austin Kenon stepped over to meet him. The Highlander guard turned the ball over, and with it, the home squad appeared to turn over their hopes for the evening. VMI took advantage of the miscue, taking their first lead at 21-20 on a Travis Holmes layup.
Radford briefly went back on top, thanks to a Lynch-Flohr jumper, but the Keydets scored on their next possession to take a 23-22 lead at the 9:37 mark of the first half, and VMI never trailed again.
The Keydets finished the half on a 27-10 run to take a 50-32 lead into the locker room at halftime. The 3,066 Radford fans were silenced by the 50-19 run over the last sixteen minutes of the first half, a run during which the visitors shot 16-for-28 (57.1%) from the floor. VMI forced 13 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, and converted those miscues into 22 points. Kenon led the Keydets with 15 points in the first half.
The second half opened with several minutes of back-and-forth action, with the Keydets slowly increasing their lead. A Kenon four-point play at the 17:07 mark pushed the VMI lead over 20 for the first time, and the advantage grew from there. A Travis Holmes jumper with 6:36 to play made it a 25-point cushion, and the Keydets went up 29 with four minutes to play, again on a Travis Holmes field goal. The near 30-point advantage proved to be VMI's biggest of the night, and marked a 42-point swing from Radford's game-opening run.
The Highlanders closed the game on an 18-4 run, mostly against VMI reserves, to account for the final margin, 87-72.
The win was coach Duggar Baucom's 50th at VMI, and the team's first at the Dedmon Center since Feb. of 2005. VMI is now 7-1 to begin conference action for the first time since 1976-77, and the Keydets have won 14-of-16 overall, their best run since 1978.
On Wednesday night, VMI was led by Kenon, who had 24 points. All seven of the sophomore guard's field goals came from three-point range, as he matced his career-high for the third time this season. The returning Travis Holmes had 23 markers for VMI, to go along with seven assists.
Radford was led by Lynch-Flohr, who shot 8-of-8 from the floor to account for his 19 points.
VMI basketball returns to action Saturday, as the Keydets take on the High Point Panthers at Cameron Hall. Game time is set for 1 p.m. Prior to that, Chavis and Travis Holmes will be interviewed on “ESPN First Take”, a sports talk program that airs on ESPN2. The segment with the Holmes' twins is scheduled to air at approximately 11:40 a.m. EST.
Quotes --- VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom:
“It wasn't pretty to start with. I didn't think we were going to score. We finally made some shots, which let us set up our pressure. I'm very proud of our guys.”
“We knew it was going to be hard guarding those guys man-to-man. We had to force some turnovers and it was certainly good to have Travis Holmes back. What a game he had, and it was pretty amazing. For him to get going like that was awesome.”
“Credit the guys around him (Travis Holmes) and Austin Kenon. Austin hit some timely three's in the first half, as did Keith, who hit some big ones. Chavis was stellar, and I thought we did a good job defensively. To neutralize those big guys certainly helped.”
