LEXINGTON, Va. ? Behind a record-setting performance from three-point range, the VMI Keydets routed the Southern Virginia Knights, 113-92, on Thursday night at Cameron Hall.
With the win, VMI moves to 17-3 and improves to 10-1 at home this season. The Keydets have won 16 of their last 18 games, which is the squad's best streak since an identical run in 1978. Southern Virginia falls to 8-9 overall.
In the first half, the Keydets hit 18 three-pointers, a VMI record for one half of play. Thanks to six treys in the final 20 minutes, the home squad set a new VMI record overall, surpassing the previous high set on Dec. 6, 2006 versus Lees-McRae. The record-breaking three-pointer came off the hands of Quinn Brownfield with just under a minute to play.
Leading the way for the Keydets with a game-high 26 points, including six three-point baskets, was Chavis Holmes. The Knights were led by Swann, who posted 23 points, five rebounds and five assists in the losing effort.
The game opened with a bit of back-and-forth action, as the two teams traded the lead for the opening four minutes. A Dele Opeifa basket gave Southern Virginia a 10-9 lead at the 16:24 mark, but it would be SVU's final lead of the night.
Austin Kenon scored to put the Keydets up 11-10, sparking a 13-4 run that put VMI up 24-14. The run culminated with a Hunter Houston three-pointer at the 14:05 mark, VMI's sixth trey in the opening six minutes of action.
The Knights cut the deficit to single digits on a pair of occasions, including when an Ade Swann layup chopped the deficit to nine with 12:22 left in the first half. A 12-2 VMI run pushed the lead up to 19, and SVU never threatened again.
The home team kept up its hot pace from beyond the arc, hitting 10 in the first 10 minutes of play. A Kenon three-pointer at the 9:50 mark made the score 39-20, and gave the Keydets 11 triples from distance.
With 3:19 left in the opening half, Keith Gabriel nailed his sixth three-pointer, giving the Keydets 17 for the opening stanza and setting a new VMI record for three-pointers in a half. The previous mark, set last Feb. 11 versus Charleston Southern, stood for less than a year. The Gabriel three gave the Keydets a 64-36 advantage, a margin which they would push to 31 just minutes later, thanks to a Chavis Holmes triple with 1:35 left.
The halftime margin was 74-46, thanks to VMI's 18 three-pointers. The Keydets' offensive onslaught was led by Gabriel, who had 18 points, including 6-of-7 on treys. Chavis Holmes had 17 points, while Kenon had 15 markers in the opening 20 minutes.
SVU opened the second half on a 14-3 run, culminating in a layup by Swann at 16:04 to cut the lead to 17, but VMI quickly pushed the advantage back out. A 24-6 run over the next six minutes, led by five different players scoring, gave the Keydets a 91-66 edge with 10:13 remaining.
VMI continued to shoot the ball well over the next several minutes, increasing its lead to 35 on a thunderous Gabriel dunk at the 6:05 mark, 105-70. The Knights came right back with a 17-2 spurt to bring the margin to just 20, but VMI answered with several baskets late, including the record-breaking Brownfield three-pointer, to account for the final margin of 113-92.
VMI was led by Chavis Holmes' 26 points, to go along with seven assists. Gabriel had 24 points and Houston had a career-high 20 points off the bench. Despite the outstanding performance from three-point range, no Keydet made more than six triples on the night. Four different players made at least a quartet of threes, while seven Keydets made at least one.
VMI forced at least 30 turnovers for the second straight game, converting 32 SVU turnovers into 39 points. The Knights were led by Swann's 23 points, along with Bryce Pendleton's 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc.
The Keydets return to action Monday, as they return to Big South action by hosting UNC Asheville at Cameron Hall. Tip time is set for 7 p.m.
Quotes --- VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom:
“We shot it pretty good from three-point range. I was pleased with that. They kept going in early and that was a good thing. We got some pretty good looks and I thought we were very unselfish. We had 18 assists on 24 baskets and I was proud of them.”
“In the second half we started playing the scoreboard and we're not very good at that. That was disappointing, but after a couple of timeouts, we got settled down a little bit and made some shots. We just missed some shots early then we set our press and got some turnovers and extended it out a little better.”
“We kept out Austin most of the second half as a precaution, but he's fine. I think we have found out he's one kid it's tough to play without. He certainly extends the defense and makes us more potent on the floor because everyone needs to know where he is.”
“I'm glad this game is over because I had been worrying about it for a long time. Credit Southern Virginia for playing very well. They never quit. They have some mature kids and they played very hard.”
“Hunter Houston was awesome. He came in with a lot of fire tonight and made some threes as well as some shots around the basket. His energy was great.”
