ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Stan Okoye posted 23 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season, but the UNC Asheville Bulldogs tallied five players in double figures en route to a 94-85 win over the VMI Keydets in Big South basketball action Thursday night in Asheville, N.C.
After trailing throughout the first half, VMI (7-8, 2-3 Big South) cut its deficit to four, 49-45, on a three-point play by Okoye with 17:43 to play. From there, Asheville (9-6, 4-0) went on an 18-8 run to increase its lead to 14, and the Keydets could not get closer than eight points the rest of the way.
In addition to Okoye, VMI saw Keith Gabriel post 20 points, as he moved into 10th place on the Institute's all-time scoring list, surpassing Radee Skipworth '05. Michael Sparks also had a strong night, tying a season-high with 19 points, while Rodney Glasgow added 10 markers and chipped in five assists.
The Keydets also held a 37-32 edge on the glass and scored 49 bench points, the sixth time in seven games they had seen at least 40 points from their reserves, but VMI turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 26 Bulldog points in the loss.
Asheville's double figure scorers were led by Matt Dickey, who notched 23 points, while J.P. Primm added 21 and seven assists.
VMI never led in the contest after two early ties at 2-2 and 4-4 over the opening 2:26 of the first half. A layup by Bulldog guard Chris Stephenson at the 17:12 put Asheville up for good. Leading 19-4, the hosts took advantage of VMI turnovers to bolt to a 12-4 run and assume its largest lead of the first half (31-17) when Stephenson powered in a layup at the 9:04 mark.
The Keydets bounced back to trim the deficit to six points after a 10-2 spurt capped by a Sparks wing 3-pointer with 5:45 left in the first half. VMI later pulled within five following an Okoye layup to make it 38-33 Asheville at the 2:29 mark. The Bulldogs quickly countered with five straight points by Matt Dickey on a layup and 3-pointer, but VMI remained within striking distance at the half, 45-39, despite nine turnovers that led to 12 Bulldog points.
Okoye inched VMI closer at 17:43 mark of the second half with a layup to pull the Keydets within 49-45, but Asheville reeled off another decisive 12-4 run over the next 5:07 to quell the surge and push the game into a double-digit affair for most of the remainder of regulation. A Sparks 3-pointer at the midway point of the second half would be as close as the Keydets could come (69-61) for the rest of the night.
The Keydets saw their two-game win streak snapped despite the 9-of-13 shooting performance by Okoye that led to his third straight 20-point game and sixth of the year while Gabriel notched his fifth 20-point scoring game of the season.
Sparks equaled his 19-point season high outing set earlier against Milligan College December 10 and canned five of eight shots from the floor including four treys. Freshman forward Jarid Watson chipped in a career-high eight points and pulled down four rebounds in 17 minutes of action.
VMI held Asheville to 48% shooting from the field for the third consecutive game an opponent has been held to under 50% from the floor, but the Bulldogs drained 20-of-24 free throws for 83% while the Keydets converted 21-of-26 for 81%.
The Keydets continue the quest for their first road win of the season as they head to Rock Hill, S.C. Saturday afternoon to face Winthrop at 4 p.m.
VMI head coach Duggar Baucom -
"We were not tough tonight from the outset. Until we decide we are going to have that mentality, it's going to be a long time on the road. Turnovers killed us and we had nine in the first half. You have to get shots and we were very casual with the ball. We never seemed to get many stops in a row. We would get one and they would get three."
"It's frustrating because we showed some grit at home, but it's not the same on the road and it needs to get better."
"When you outrebound somebody and shoot 48% and hit 21-of-26 from the line, you should be pretty good. But aside from taking care of the ball, offense wasn't our problem tonight. It was poor play defensively, I thought."
Michael Sparks played great. He was our bright spot. He went to the offensive boards and he stuck his nose in defensively. Both he and Jarid Watson were the brighter spots for guys who normally don't get a chance to contribute as much."
