LEXINGTON, Va. - Freshman guards Danny Nieman and Kierre Greenwood combined for 42 points and redshirt senior Joseph Harris added 20 points and 10 rebounds as Coastal Carolina opened Big South play with a 111-97 win over VMI on Thursday evening at Cameron Hall.
The Chanticleers (6-2, 1-0 Big South) scored 82 of their 111 points in the paint while defending their lane with 10 blocked shots. Harris contributed four of those rejections, becoming Coastal Carolina's all-time blocks leader in the process, ending the game 116 with in his career.
VMI (3-3, 0-1 Big South) connected on 13 of their 30 attempts from beyond the arc for a season-best 43.3% clip. The Keydets, however, were outrebounded 50-35 and made a season-low six steals in the team's first conference-opening loss since the 2006-07 season.
"I'm pleased with the way we shot it from three, but we had no answer for them on the glass," said VMI head coach Duggar Baucom. "Six steals for us is by far the lowest the year and probably 15 turnovers (forced), too. They do a good job of spacing and we just didn't force our will upon them. It was exactly the other way around. But I'm proud of how hard our guys played. Ron Burks was stellar. He was the one guy you could count on that was going to stick his nose in and get rebounds, and he did."
Leading the way for the Keydets was junior guard Austin Kenon, whose 31 points represented a season high. Sophomore Ron Burks notched his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Michael Sparks contributed 18 points off the bench. Rounding out VMI's double-figure scorers was Keith Gabriel, who added 17 points in his second career start, despite limited playing time in the first half due to foul trouble.
Nieman netted a team-high 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting in his first taste of league play, while Greenwood had 20 points, five assists and four steals in his Big South debut. Chad Gray added a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Chris Evans was the fifth Chanticleer in double figures with 10 points.
"They're a good team," said Baucom. "They're very athletic and very experienced. The freshman point guard (Greenwood) is unbelievable. He is really good and we could never get him rattled."
The visitors opened up an 8-0 to start the game, which was televised regionally on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). Trailing 12-6 five minutes into the game, the Keydets went on their first run of the game, a 12-2 rally during a two-minute span to take a four-point lead, 18-14.
Coastal Carolina answered quickly with a 7-0 run powered by back-to-back dunks from Evans to reclaim the lead, 21-18. The game went back and forth over the next few minutes, with each team holding a lead while the score was deadlocked on three different occasions. With five minutes left in the half, Coastal Carolina used a 10-3 run to take a 49-40 lead, but VMI rallied to end the period with an 11-4 run to cut the halftime margin to 53-51.
Kenon, who scored eight straight points on VMI's half-ending run, led all scorers at the break with 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting, converting four of his five three-point attempts and all four of his free throws. Nieman led the Chanticleers with 11 points, while Greenwood notched three of his steals in the first period. VMI hit on eight of its 16 attempts from distance in the first half, while also scorching the nets for an 85% clip from the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes.
"We shot the ball well enough in the first half to keep us in it," said Baucom. "In the second half, we didn't shoot it nearly as well."
A Stan Okoye layup in the second half's opening period knotted the score for the fourth time, 53-53, while a three-point play by fellow freshman Nick Gore on VMI's next possession gave the Keydets what proved to be their last lead, 56-53. The visitors unleashed a 30-11 run over the next seven minutes to take control of the game, moving ahead 83-67 on a three-point play by Nieman with 11:45 remaining.
The Keydets could not cut the margin to single digits the rest of the way, drawing only as close as 11 points on two occasions in the final minutes. In the second half, the Chanticleers outscored the Keydets 58-46, committed just five turnovers and cleaned up the boards, holding a 28-19 edge.
"I thought in the second half they were more concerned about guarding than we were," said Baucom. "We didn't do a very good job defensively in the second half. They locked us up and we missed some shots around the rim and some other times we got to the rim and got them blocked."
Coastal Carolina ended the game shooting 57% from the floor and 42% on three-pointers, but just 53% from the free throw line. The Keydets, meanwhile, notched season bests in three-point shooting (43%) and free-throw shooting (86%).
VMI returns to action on Saturday afternoon, playing host to Charleston Southern at Cameron Hall. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. tip.
