LEXINGTON, Va. - D.J. Covington had a career-high 33 points, including the final points of the game on a dunk in the waning seconds, to help his VMI Keydets stave off a rally by the Campbell Camels and claim an 84-81 victory in Big South basketball action Wednesday night at Cameron Hall in Lexington, Va.
After the Keydets (16-10, 9-4 Big South) had led by as many as 24 in the first half, Campbell (12-15, 6-7 Big South) came storming back in the second half. CU was down nine with 2:14 left, but used an 11-3 run and, after a Reco McCarter triple with 16 seconds to go, it was a one-point game at 82-81, VMI. After an exchange of timeouts, Brian Brown found Covington with a court-length baseball pass for the game's final points on a resounding dunk. The Camels had one last chance, but a McCarter three from the top of the key rimmed out as time expired, giving the Keydets the victory.
With the win, VMI gets its 12th victory of the year at Cameron Hall, equaling the second-highest total in arena history. Covington's 33 markers were two more than his previous career-high, set last season against these same Camels, as he went 12 of 16 from the floor and 9 of 11 at the foul line. QJ Peterson chipped in 19 points and seven rebounds, while Phillip Anglade was one point shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 boards.
The Keydets streaked out to an early 11-0 lead, exciting the over 2,000 fans in attendance, but CU got on the board at the 15:34 mark and would eventually cut the margin to seven, 20-13, with 11:23 left in the period.
VMI's offense then exploded, going on a 18-2 run over the next five plus minutes to push the margin to a startling 23, 38-15, with 4:49 on the clock. Covington, Peterson and Anglade had all 18 points during the run.
The Keydets pushed the margin to 24, 43-19, later in the period, but Campbell was able to get the lead back under 20 at halftime, 45-27, thanks to nine points from McCarter.
The first half saw Covington go off for 19 points and miss only one of his eight field goal attempts, while VMI also held a 25-14 edge on the glass, including 14-6 in offensive rebounds.
VMI scored the first two points of the second half on two free throws by Covington, but Campbell immediately answered with a 21-7 run that included four triples. Leek Leek ended the push with a three-pointer at 14:37, making it a six-point game at 54-48.
The Camels kept chipping away at the Keydet lead, and got within two on a basket by Antwon Oliver with 10:26 on the clock, but VMI responded with a 7-0 run that provided breathing room at 72-63. Again, Peterson, Anglade and Covington had all the points in the push. From there, the teams engaged in primarily back and forth play until CU's late 11-3 spurt provided the late drama.
With the victory, VMI clinches a winning season for the fourth time in the past nine years. Prior to that run, the Keydets had enjoyed just two winning years in the previous 20 seasons.
VMI basketball will return to action Saturday, taking on the Radford Highlanders at Cameron Hall. Game time for VMI's senior day, the final home game for D.J. Covington, Drew Absher and Rodney Glasgow, is set for 1 p.m.
Quotes – VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom
"It wasn't pretty by any means, but we'll take them. Any conference win you can have is a good win and that's what tonight was."
"We didn't play very well in the second half but we made the plays when we had to. Brian Brown threw a beautiful pass to D.J. (Covington) at the end and it worked."
"We needed to make a few more plays down the stretch, but I am proud of the guys."
"D.J. Covington was a warrior tonight. Our problem was we didn't get it into him enough."
"It's not easy playing with the lead when they were throwing in shots like that. Credit our guys for hanging in there and fighting. Campbell made it really hard on us but we were able to execute at the end. Jordan Weethee came up with two huge layups."
