COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - VMI posted six players in double figures, led wire to wire and survived a furious rally by The Citadel Bulldogs to take a 103-100 win in game two of the All-Military Classic, contested late Friday at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. The contest was the season opener for both clubs.
With the victory, VMI advances to Saturday's tournament championship game against the host Air Force Falcons, a game that will begin at 10:30 Eastern time. The Citadel will play Army for third place two hours earlier.
After pulling away midway through the second half, the Keydets took a 98-83 lead with 3:58 remaining, thanks to a jumper by Nick Gore. The Bulldogs responded with a 17-4 run, a spurt that brought them back within two with just 14 seconds remaining. After Marshall Harris III drilled a trey to cap that push, he fouled Keith Gabriel on the ensuing inbounds play. Gabriel hit 1 of 2 at the charity stripe, giving Citadel a chance to tie, but the Bulldogs could not get off a three-point try before time expired, giving the Keydets a 103-100 win.
Stan Okoye led VMI with 19 points, while Rodney Glasgow and Gabriel had 17 markers apiece. Ron Burks added 11, all in the second half, while Gore finished just one rebound shy of a double-double, notching 14 points and nine boards despite going against 6-9 Citadel center Mike Groselle for the majority of the game. Groselle led the Bulldogs with 25 points and 11 rebounds, playing 37 minutes in the thin Colorado Springs air, a full five minutes more than any other player.
This game was tied just once, at 2-2 after Groselle's layup 44 seconds into the game, but VMI then launched an 11-2 run to take control of the game for the first time. Gabriel capped the effort with a triple at 15:45, and the Keydets had an early 13-4 edge.
That lead gradually grew, hitting double-digits for the first time at 13:05 on a Glasgow jumper, but the Bulldogs cut it back to eight on a Groselle free throw, and trailed 20-12 with 11:42 left in the half. VMI responded with eight straight points, a run that was punctuated by a Jordan Weethee triple at 9:14, putting the Keydets up 28-12.
That lead was still at 15 one minute later, as Okoye converted a pair of free throws to make it 32-17, but the Bulldogs answered with a 12-0 run, with all the points scored by Groselle and Lawrence Miller. When Miller hit a triple with 6:03 left in the half, Citadel was right back in the contest, trailing just 32-29. The Keydets fired right back by gradually widening their lead, and going back up by nine, 44-35, on a Weethee triple with 3:54 left.
The Bulldogs gradually chipped away, and after a layup by Barry Smith with 48 seconds left in the half, the lead was down to just two, 48-46. Weethee hit two free throws, however, and Gabriel soared for a left-handed tip-in at the halftime buzzer, giving the Keydets a 52-46 halftime lead.
Weethee led the Keydets in the first half, as the freshman had 12 points in the first half of his collegiate career, while Okoye and Glasgow added 11 apiece. VMI survived a strong first half shooting from The Citadel, which hit 16 of 30 field goal attempts (53.3%) in the first 20 minutes.
Gabriel's half-ending tip appeared to invigorate the Keydets, as they scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 59-46 lead with 18:37 to play. Citadel briefly got back within eight, 60-52, with 16:34 left, but VMI extended its lead back to double-digits just moments later and held that margin for the next six-plus minutes. DeVontae Wright broke that spurt with a jumper at the 10:06 mark, cutting the Keydet lead to 80-72.
Burks then converted a three-point play, putting VMI up 83-72, and Weethee scored on a lay-in to push the edge back to 13. The Bulldogs got back within single digits yet again, doing so with 7:01 remaining at 88-79, Glasgow quieted that run with four straight points, including a jumper at 6:47, and after two Citadel free throws, Gore converted a lay-up to push the lead to 13, 94-81, with 5:08 remaining. On the next play, Gabriel stole the ball from Ashton Moore just shy of midcourt, leaving himself an open lane to the hoop. He took advantage, converting a massive two-handed slam to seemingly cap the season-opening win, and put the Keydets up 15, 96-81.
The Bulldogs would not go away, however, and scored four of the next six points to pull within 13 and set the stage for the game-ending dramatics. The 17-4 run included just one Keydet field goal, as they had three turnovers and just a single Okoye layup over the 3:44 push. With the margin cut to 103-100, the game's final play saw Smith receive a pass at the top of the key, just shy of the three-point line. With the clock running down, he was unable to maneuver behind the three-point line, and his two-point shot fell short and deflected to Glasgow for the game-ending rebound.
The win was VMI's fourth straight season opening victory and saw the Keydets shoot 36 of 72, precisely 50%, from the field. VMI made just seven three-pointers, but his 24 free throws and held a 46-38 edge in points in the paint, despite Groselle's 25 markers.
VMI will return to action Saturday, playing for the All-Military Classic title at 10:30 Eastern Time, taking on the Air Force Falcons. The meeting will be the first-ever contest between the programs.
