LEXINGTON, Va. - VMI coach Duggar Baucom earned his 100th career win Saturday afternoon, as the VMI Keydets topped the Charleston Southern Buccaneers 103-91 in a Big South basketball contest played at Cameron Hall in Lexington, Va.
With the win, the Keydets move to 4-3 on the season and even their conference record at 1-1. CSU falls to 4-4 on the year and is now 0-2 in Big South action, having dropped their seventh in a row to the Keydets.
VMI was led by Keith Gabriel's 28 points, as he nailed six three-pointers to lead VMI's 16-for-31 afternoon from distance. Michael Sparks went 7-for-9 from the floor, contributing 21 points, while Austin Kenon had 18 points and five assists for the Keydets.
After the Bucs controlled the first 11 minutes, VMI went on a 14-3 run midway through the first half that gave the home team a lead it would not relinquish. Charleston Southern turned the ball over five times during the run, and shot just 1-for-7 as VMI took control of the game.
Ron Burks opened the scoring with a three, but things went CSU's way for the next 4:30. The Keydets coughed up the ball on three consecutive possessions, each of which ended with Buc points. All told, CSU sprinted out to an 11-0 run and an eight-point lead, 11-3, at the 15:16 mark after a jumper by Kenny Mitchell.
Sparks hit a trey to get VMI back in the scoring column 16 seconds later, 11-6, and he and Mitchell exchanged hoops for the next 43 seconds. After the back-and-forth, the Keydets went on a 9-2 run capped by another Sparks three, giving the home team the 18-17 edge at the 11:41 mark. That lead was short lived, as Mitchell scored once again to give CSU a 19-18 advantage.
From there, the teams battled through the next two minutes with neither squad able to gain the edge, as the game remained knotted at 23 after a pair of Kenon free throws at 9:09. After the junior hit from the charity stripe, VMI went on the 14-3 spurt that would give them a lead they would not surrender. The Bucs turned the ball over five times during the 4:33 run.
During the remainder of the period, CSU climbed back within five on three different occasions, but the Keydets went into the locker room with an eight-point cushion, 50-42. VMI was helped by 53% three-point shooting in the opening half, and was led by Gabriel's 14 markers and Sparks' 12 points.
Gabriel hit his fifth three-pointer to open the second half, putting VMI up 11 in the opening moments. After a layup by Mitchell cut the Bucs' deficit to nine, a basket by Adam Lonon put the lead back to double-digits. Charleston Southern could not get the margin under 11 the rest of the way, as the Keydets pulled away.
A 10-2 run to start the second half, capped by a Burks three-point play, gave the Keydets a 19-point advantage with 16:39 to play. CSU whittled its deficit to 14 with 12:16 left, thanks to a Jeremy Sexton three-pointer, and the margin was just 13 with 9:26 on the clock.
VMI made a final push, however, as a pair of Stan Okoye free throws started a 23-5 run that ended the visitors' hopes for a comeback. Kenon capped the huge spurt with a trey at 7:16, giving the Keydets their largest lead of the night, 90-69, and allowing them to coast to the 12-point win.
In addition to Gabriel, Sparks and Kenon, the Keydets enjoyed a season-high 13 points from Hunter Houston, while Burks had 10 rebounds to pace VMI. The contest marked Burks' third game with double-digit rebounds this season, and was also the third time this year he has led the team in that category. Charleston Southern saw a good shooting night from freshman Sexton, who had a career-high 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, as well as Kelvin Martin's 21 points, which fell just two short of a career best.
VMI returns to action on Wednesday, as the Keydets travel to Blacksburg to battle the Virginia Tech Hokies. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. at Cassell Coliseum.
Quotes - VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom
"I'm very proud of the guys. We were a totally different team today guarding. I was pleased with our defense and how we played."
"We got off to a slow start. Our first four minutes weren't pretty, but after the first media timeout, I thought we were pretty stellar for the next 36 minutes."
"We knew they were going to try to go out and hug the three-point line with the people we have out there, and for Keith to make six three-pointers and Austin (Kenon) and Michael (Sparks) getting three and five, respectively, we have a chance to be okay. We are an offensive team, and we showed it today. Everyone who took the floor stepped up."
"It was an unbelievable job by Adam Lonon. He ran the team, made the simple pass and did a lot of good things."
