LEXINGTON, Va. - The VMI Keydets scored their most points in over six years and nearly equaled a school record for blocks, en route to a 133-62 win over the Mid-Atlantic Christian Mustangs Tuesday night at Cameron Hall in Lexington, Va. The 71-point margin of victory was the third-highest in school history.
Tuesday night's contest was tied only once, at 2-2 in the opening moments and the Keydets led by as many as 73 points en route to the win. The home team placed six players in double figures, led by Tim Marshall and Brian Brown's 16 points apiece. Philip Anglade, Trey Chapman, Armani Branch and Julian Eleby also finished in double figures, while walk-on Michael Donovan was just shy of a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.
The Keydets (3-4) rejected 14 Mustang (1-8) shots, one shy of the VMI record set in 2003, and posted 22 steals on the night. On the other end, VMI attempted 105 shots and 57 three-pointers, both the highest numbers for the program since 2009.
All told, the Keydets scored their most points since tallying 133 markers against Stevenson on Nov. 20, 2008 and tied the seventh-most points scored in school history.
MACU was paced by Marquice Sims' 17 points and seven boards.
The Keydets were cold from the field early, allowing MACU to stay within five after two free throws at the 15:54 mark made it 11-6. VMI then scored 16 of the game's next 19 points to break the contest open and stretch the margin to 18, 27-9, after a Brown triple at 13:27.
The lead hit 30 for the first time with 7:13 left in the half after Branch hit a three-pointer, and VMI kept scoring en route to a 76-point first half. It was two points shy of the top five scoring halves in program history, and it was marked by 14 points from Branch and 10 each from Marshall and Eleby.
The second half saw a slower pace as VMI gradually stretched its lead, going up 50 after a Brown three-point play with 16:08 to go. The margin was at 70 with 9:50 to go, and from there, the teams played fairly evenly the rest of the way en route to the final margin.
The home team finished 54 of 105 from the field (51.4%), tied for the fifth-most made field goal in program history and the sixth-most field goals attempted in a single game. VMI attempted 57 three-pointers, the team's fourth-most ever, and made 15 for a 26.3% clip. MACU finished 19 of 67 from the floor (28.4%) and 6 of 17 (35.3%) from long range.
VMI forced 28 turnovers in the win and converted those MACU miscues into 39 points. The Keydets also had a 78-22 edge in points in the paint and notched an astounding 89 bench points.
VMI basketball will return to action Thursday, as the Keydets travel to Birmingham, Ala. to take on the Samford Bulldogs in the Keydets' Southern Conference opener. Action gets underway at 8 p.m. ET.
QUOTES – VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom
"Our goal tonight was to play hard and unselfish and I thought we did that. We kind of played the scoreboard in the first half, but in the first eight minutes of the second half, I thought we were pretty much on point. We still didn't shoot the ball very well. I don't know if we were trying too hard, but we certainly didn't shoot it like we were capable of shooting. But that can happen in these kind of games."
"I thought Christian Burton did a good job in his second start - he hit a big three early and did a good job running the point at the end."
"It was great to see the walk-ons (Donovan, Tate, Jenne) play and contribute. They help us get better every day and get no credit for it. For Mike Donovan to have nine points and eight rebounds in his limited minutes - that's 'want to' for a baseball player to come in and do that."
"Tonight we got a lot more live turnovers and we were active and got our hands in the passing lanes."
"Samford will be a tough test Thursday and it's out longest trip of the year. I told the team in the locker room after the game that we can be as good as we want to be and it's up to those individuals in the room."
