LEXINGTON, Va. - The VMI Keydets used a 10-0 run early in the second half to break open a close game and go on to knock off a spirited Alice Lloyd Eagle squad, 101-74, in basketball action Tuesday night at Cameron Hall in Lexington, Va.
In a game that was tied at halftime, 39-39, the Keydets used defensive pressure to force eight turnovers in the first 4:17 of the second half. All of VMI's points in the deciding run came off turnovers, as the Keydets forced 27 ALC miscues and held a 43-8 edge in points off turnovers for the game. Quinton Upshur had five steals in just 19 minutes, pacing the Keydet efforts, while Keith Gabriel had four and Nick Gore grabbed three steals.
Offensively, the Keydets were led by Gabriel, who had 22 points, as the team exploded for 62 second half markers. Freshman Jordan Weethee rebounded from a scoreless first half to score 17 second half points. Gore had 17 markers, Stan Okoye had 19 and Ron Burks filled up the stat sheet with nine points, six rebounds and seven assists.
VMI jumped out to a 6-2 lead early, but ALC responded with an 8-2 run to take its first lead of the night, 10-8. Brandon Hayes had five of the eight points, but VMI quickly answered with a Stan Okoye three-pointer to go ahead once again, 11-10, at the 13:42 mark of the opening half.
Those were two of seven lead changes in the opening half, as the scrappy Eagles battled VMI up and down the floor. Casey Dalton hit a three-pointer at 13:31 to give ALC the lead, 13-11, but VMI went on a 6-0 run to go back ahead, 17-13, with 12:59 left in the first. As was the case for the entire half, ALC came right back, and there would be two ties and a lead change in the span of just 1:19 on the game clock. Hayes hit a jumper for ALC to give them the edge at the 11:51 mark, but VMI would score the next five points, including a shot by Burks at 10:32, giving the Keydets a 22-20 edge.
Over the course of the next five-plus minutes, the home team went up by as many as five, but could not extend the lead, and the visitors took advantage with a 7-0 run, beginning at the 5:37 mark. Hayes scored off a pass from Dalton, making it a 32-29 contest, and Isaac Wilson then scored on a fast break lay-in to reduce the margin to one. Wilson then hit a three pointer at 3:59, giving ALC its first lead since 18-17, 34-32.
That edge was short lived, as Upshur scored on the next possession to tie the game, 34-34, but Terry Muse converted a lay-up moments later, giving the Eagles a 36-34 edge. Okoye answered with his second trey of the first half, and VMI retook a one point lead. An Okoye dunk pushed that edge to 39-36 with less than a minute to go, but Shawn Thompson hit a triple for the Eagles as time expired, sending the contest to the locker room tied, 39-39.
The visitors had scorched the nets in the first half, shooting 15 for 30 overall (50%) and 6 for 9 from three-point range. VMI, by contrast, was held to 14 for 40 from the field (35%) and 7 of 21 (33%) from deep. Gabriel had 14 first half points, while three different players had nine for Alice Lloyd.
Hayes opened the second half with a basket for the Eagles, giving them a two-point lead, but that would be their final edge of the night. Gabriel stole the ball and drew a foul on the next possession. He hit his two foul shots, tying the score with 19:07 to play, 41-41. That would launch the decisive run, in which the senior had four points, two steals and a pair of assists, allowing the Keydets to grab a 49-41 edge with 17:31 remaining.
ALC clawed back to within five with 16:41 left, but VMI scored eight of the game's next 11 points, capped by a Weethee three-pointer at the 13:59 mark to go up by 10 for the first time, 59-49. That lead grew to 16 on a breakaway dunk by Jarid Watson, and Okoye hit his third triple of the night at 9:43 to stretch the margin to 20, 76-56.
From there, VMI went on a 15-5 run to take its biggest lead of the night, 94-64, on Brian Brown's first career field goal, a three-pointer that came with five minutes remaining. Alice Lloyd got back within 23 with 3:40 to go, but the Keydet bench was able to stretch the final margin to 27 in the waning moments, 101-74.
Quotes - VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom
"We kind of sleepwalked through the first half. There's no excuse for it really, but we have a lot of guys under the weather right now and they fought through it. We certainly played better in the second half."
"Jordan (Weethee) hung in there after missing his first few shots. He can really shoot it, and has a chance to be really good. When they pressured, he took it to the hole."
"I thought we were really unselfish. 26 assists on 37 field goals is pretty good for us. They took care of the ball in the first half. It was a tale of two halves - first half we were sluggish. In the second half, the intensity picked up and we were much better."
