RADFORD, Va.- VMI's Chavis and Travis Holmes combined for 38 points, and the No. 2 Keydets rallied from a 32-27 halftime deficit to win 78-58 over No. 3 Liberty in the Semifinals of the 2009 Advance Auto Parts Big South Men's Basketball Championship on Thursday night at the Dedmon Center.
The Keydets (24-7) advance to their second Big South Championship game in the past three seasons, and will play No. 1 Radford at the Dedmon Center on Saturday at 4 p.m. on ESPN2.
Chavis Holmes led all scorers with 20 points, with 12 coming in the second half. His three second half three-pointers included one at 15:07 that put the Keydets up for good, 39-38, at 15:07.
Travis Holmes added 18 points, including 14 in the second half. His three-pointer from the left side gave the Keydets a double-digit advantage for the first time, 56-46, at 8:55.
Trailing by five at halftime after shooting 29 percent in the first half, VMI, the nation's highest scoring team, got hot in the second, outscoring the Flames 40-12 over a thirteen-minute span.
In the final 20 minutes, the Keydets hit on 56.7 percent of their shots (17-of-30) and connected on seven three pointers, outscoring Liberty 51-26.
VMI held Liberty (22-11) to 30.3 percent shooting (10-of-33) and forced 11 turnovers in the second half. The Keydets added eight second half steals to finish with 10, outscoring the Flames 16-1 in points off turnovers over the final 20 minutes. All told, the 58 points scored by Liberty was the second-lowest total for a VMI opponent this season.
Kyle Ohman scored 16 points to lead the Flames and first team all-conference selection Anthony Smith posted a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Liberty went to the break up five on the strength off 10 first-half points from Big South Freshman of the Year Seth Curry, along with a 50 percent shooting performance from the field. However, Curry, the nation's leading scorer among freshmen, was held without a point in the second half.
Curry's layup from the right wing gave the Flames an 11-4 lead at the 15:02 mark, their largest advantage of the game. Liberty finished the game shooting 38.6 percent (22-of-57) from the floor, and only 23 percent (5-of-22) from three-point range.
VMI's 20-point win on Thursday is the largest margin of victory in a Big South Semifinal in 21 years, as it gave VMI their second-straight 20-point win of the tournament. That marks the first time in Big South history that a team has won each of its first two tourney games by at least 20 points, while it is also the first time in VMI program history that the Keydets have won two postseason games by at least 20 points.
VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom
"We said in the second half, let's be who we are. You can only scheme so much, but when it takes you out of your rhythm, it's not good. We went in at halftime and I said, 'That's way too slow, let's do what we do'. Everyone agreed, and Adam Lonon came in and gave us an unbelievable spark. Ron Burks was great on the defensive boards, and so was Willie Bell."
"It was not our game in the first half, not our speed. Heart won out - we said all we need is 20 minutes of heart and we play Saturday."
"I thought our effort was good in the first half, but we weren't very tough. We got stripped of the ball several times, and didn't do what we can, but we got much better in the second half."
