ASHEVILLE, N.C. - UNC Asheville placed six players in double figures scoring and swept the regular season series over VMI with a 114-97 win over the Keydets Saturday afternoon at the Justice Center.
Redshirt junior forward John Williams led the Bulldogs in scoring with 31 points and eight rebounds while freshman center D.J. Cunningham added 19 points and 10 rebounds.
VMI sophomore guard Keith Gabriel led all scorers with 32 points including five 3-pointers and 9-of-11 attempts converted from the free throw line.
The Keydets fell to 9-16 overall and 4-11 in the Big South Conference. UNC Asheville won its seventh straight game at home and improved to 12-14, and 9-6. UNC Asheville also claimed its ninth win over the last 11 outings.
The home team won for only the second time in the last nine meetings between the teams.
Inconsistent shooting and foul trouble plagued VMI throughout the afternoon. The scoring duo of junior guard Austin Kenon and freshman forward Stan Okoye, which had combined for 54 points in Thursday night's VMI win over Gardner-Webb, was limited 27 points against Asheville Saturday. The pair got into foul trouble early the first half with both picking up two fouls before the first media time-out. Okoye played just three minutes in the first half and absorbed three fouls while Kenon saw only seven minutes of action before intermission. Both fouled out of the game along with teammate Ron Burks.
Despite the limited floor time, Okoye managed to hit seven of nine shots from the field and finished with 17 points while Kenon added 10 points.
UNC Asheville, which never trailed in the game, raced to a big lead after the opening tip and threatened to run away with it. VMI trailed by as much as 11 points (16-5) at the 16:48 mark following a Williams dunk. The lead grew to as much as 25 points twice in the first half, the second such bulge coming with 2:03 remaining following a tip-in by Cunningham.
The Keydets rallied to get back into the game starting with a 9-2 run over the last two minutes of the first half to trim the deficit to 18 points (64-46) at halftime.
The tread continued in the second half as VMI chipped away at the margin capitalizing on its defense which keyed transition baskets. The Keydets outscored UNC Asheville 33-19 over the first 11:34 of the second half and pulled within four points on a steal, drive, dunk and subsequent free throw by Gabriel which cut it to 83-79 with 8:21 remaining.
The Bulldogs regained their form and countered with a 17-3 run over the next four minutes to cushion their advantage to double-digits for the rest of the game. Sophomore guard J.P. Primm capped the run with a dunk at the 4:00 mark to push the hosts to a 100-82 lead.
UNC Asheville shot 62.5% (25-40) from the floor in the first half and followed with 53.6% shooting in the second half. The Bulldogs fired 45 free throw attempts and converted 31 while the Keydets went 16 of 26 from the line. VMI dropped in 15- of-49 from 3-point range for 30.6% and was outrebounded, 50-31.
Primm dished out 13 assists for the Bulldogs with 11 registered by halftime.
VMI returns home to play its final home game Tuesday night at Cameron Hall and will face High Point, a team it previously beaten on the road in late January. It will be the final home game for seniors Adam Lonon and Carl Josey. Tip-off will be 7 p.m.
VMI HEAD COACH DUGGAR BAUCOM -
"I was pleased with our effort at the end of the first half. We got it to 15 and they made a shot right before the end of the half. We came out and got after them before the first media time-out in the second half, and that was with Austin (Kenon) and Stan (Okoye) not being factors because of foul trouble."
"Keith Gabriel played well and Michael Sparks and Adam Lonon helped us hang in there. We got it to four and had four empty trips down the floor. They were selfish plays trying to take it off the dribble as opposed to what we normally do to get good shots. We forced it and they were scoring."
"We won one of two on this road trip and I'm not dissatisfied with that. We're still getting better and different people are stepping up."
