Basketball Falls at Presbyterian, 63-57

Men's Basketball VMIKeydets.com

Keydets Rally Late, Knock off Charleston Southern, 82-76

LEXINGTON, Va. ? Thanks to the second-straight double-double by Chavis Holmes, including 33 points and 12 rebounds, the VMI Keydets knocked off the Charleston Southern Buccaneers, 82-76, on Monday night in a Big South conference game contested at Cameron Hall.

Holmes' 33 points moves him into the sixth spot on the Big South career scoring list with 1,894 points. The senior's outing was boosted by an 11-of-12 night from the free-throw line, as the Charlotte, N.C. native shot 10-of-21 from the field on the evening. Holmes' first career double-double came Saturday against Gardner-Webb, and he followed it up Monday with his second such outing.

Despite 16 first half points by Holmes, VMI trailed 39-37 at intermission. The two teams traded baskets throughout the second half, before the Keydets closed the game on a 19-4 run over the last 7:11 to take a commanding lead and pull away for the eventual victory.  It marked the Keydets' fourth win this season when trailing at halftime.

With the win, VMI moves to 20-4 and achieves its fourth twenty-win season in program history. The Keydets are now 11-2 in the Big South, and remain deadlocked atop the conference with Radford. VMI's 11 conference victories establishes a new school record, surpassing the previous mark of 10 set during the 1995-96 season.

Charleston Southern falls to 7-15 and 2-9 in the conference. The Bucs remain in a battle with High Point for the eighth seed in March's Big South Championship.  

The home squad got off to a strong defensive start Monday night, holding Charleston Southern without a point for the first 4:53 of action. Unfortunately, the Keydets missed their first nine three-point attempts, and could only take a 9-0 lead to start the contest. A Kelvin Martin jumper got the Bucs on the board at 15:07, 9-2.

VMI stretched its lead to nine moments later, thanks to a jumper by Chavis Holmes. The nine-point advantage equaled the biggest lead of the night for either team, but the visitors quickly responded. A 13-5 run over the next three-plus minutes gave CSU its initial lead of the contest, 17-16, thanks to a lay-in by guard JT Knight at the 11:14 mark.

From there, the remainder of the half was marked by back-and-forth play. All-in-all, the squads had three ties and three lead changes in the final 11 minutes of the half, with neither team able to garner more than a four-point cushion. The Keydets took that four-point advantage with 2:49 remaining in the period, as Chavis Holmes hit a pair of free throws to make the score 35-31.

CSU retook the lead just over a minute later, as Quinton Goods made a pair of free throws after an intentional foul to give the Bucs a 37-35 cushion with 1:43 left in the half. The teams traded buckets in the final minute of action to make the halftime score 39-37.

VMI was led by Chavis Holmes in the opening 20 minutes, as the senior notched 16 points and had a quartet of rebounds. The Bucs were aided by 12 points from sophomore guard Austin Johnson, including five-of-10 from the field.

Following a CSU basket to open the second half, VMI answered with a 6-0 run to take a 43-41 lead at the 18:18 mark. The visitors retook the advantage just 40 seconds later, thanks to a Jamarco Warren three-pointer, three of his 16 second half points.

The two teams traded the lead twice over the next five minutes, with the final exchange coming on a Warren jumper with 13:23 to go, making the score 54-53. The Bucs then pushed their lead out to five on an Omar Carter jumper with 12:22 to play, only to have VMI counter with a 6-0 run to retake the lead, 59-58 at the 11:23 mark.

The teams fell into two ties during the ensuing 90 seconds, until the Bucs grabbed the lead on a Knight layup at 9:41, 65-63. The basket started a 9-0 run over the next 2:31, as the visitors pulled away and took a 72-63 advantage, silencing the 2,137 VMI faithful in attendance.

As was the case all night, VMI rallied, putting together a 10-0 run to take the lead back, 73-72 on a Ron Burks three-pointer with 3:04 to play. CSU retook the lead momentarily on a Warren layup, but Willie Bell answered with a layup of his own, giving VMI a 75-74 lead. The Keydets would not relinquish the advantage the rest of the way, concluding the contest on a 9-2 run, consisting mostly of late free throws to account for the final margin, 82-76.

The win allows the Keydets to equal the Big South record for the fastest team to 20 overall wins.  In addition to Chavis Holmes' double-double, VMI was led by Burks, who contributed a career-high 12 points in 24 minutes of play, while Bell had 10 points and eight rebounds. CSU was led by Warren's 21 points, while Omar Carter had 13 points and 15 rebounds.

VMI returns to action on Saturday, as the Keydets travel to Conway, S.C. to battle Coastal Carolina in a Big South matchup. Game time is set for 2 p.m., which is a time correction from earlier reports.

Quotes --- VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom:

“Ron Burks was another example of stepping up. I told our guys, there are going to be nights when you don't shoot the ball well, and you better do some other things. Tonight was definitely one of those nights where we didn't shoot it very well.”

“We finally started guarding somebody, we weren't very good defensively, but we did make some plays after we turned up our intensity a little bit and got a couple of easy ones. Tonight, we just had to win ugly, and we did.”

“We did a better job of guarding their penetration and staying on shooters over the last four minutes of the game.”

“I thought Willie Bell's energy was incredible in the second half, and we fed off him. Chavis Holmes was awesome offensively. He's phenomenal. I don't know if there is a better player in the league, and for him to walk to the line and make all those free throws, we want the ball in his hands in those situations.”

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Players Mentioned

Willie Bell

#2 Willie Bell

F
6' 6"
Senior
Ron Burks

#15 Ron Burks

F
6' 4"
Freshman
Chavis Holmes

#3 Chavis Holmes

G
6' 4"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Willie Bell

#2 Willie Bell

6' 6"
Senior
F
Ron Burks

#15 Ron Burks

6' 4"
Freshman
F
Chavis Holmes

#3 Chavis Holmes

6' 4"
Senior
G