LEXINGTON, Va. - The VMI Keydets held the Bridgewater College Eagles to 37 points and QJ Peterson had a double-double in just 27 minutes of action as VMI downed Bridgewater, 72-37, in NCAA basketball action Wednesday night at Cameron Hall in Lexington, Va. The 37 points tied for the fifth-fewest allowed by a Keydet team in program history.
Wednesday night's game, VMI's first at home since Dec. 12, was fairly close at the break as the Keydets led 35-21. VMI (5-6) blew the game open in the second half, however, as Bridgewater (2-7) made just 1 of 21 field goal attempts in one stretch and shot just 4 of 26 overall in the period (15.4%).
Peterson led all scorers with 19 points and also added 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Julian Eleby added 16 points and three steals, while Tim Marshall had 15 markers.
Jesse Case led Bridgewater with nine points.
The Keydets blew the previously close game open by starting the second half with a 31-4 run over the first 9:29 of the half. BC made just one field goal during that time as the Keydets pulled out to a game-high 41-point lead, 66-25.
VMI emptied its bench at the 10-minute mark and BC outscored the Keydets 12-6 the rest of the way to account for the final margin.
For the game, the Keydets finished 25 of 49 (51%) from the field and 8 of 20 from three-point range (40%), including 7 of 12 from distance in the decisive second half. Bridgewater made just 13 of 54 field goals overall, a 24.1% clip.
VMI basketball will return to action Jan. 2, when the Keydets take on the Furman Paladins in Greenville, S.C. Action gets underway at 4 p.m., and the game can be seen on ESPN3.
QUOTES - VMI Head Coach Dan Earl
"I was pleased with our defense particularly with the second half. After halftime I thought our guys were much more focused and gave a tremendous effort. I was really proud of the way we responded in the second half."
"Any time you can hold a team down to a low field goal percentage, I will certainly take it. I told our guys defense and rebounding have to be staples for us. Julian Eleby was able to make some three's and we got our energy up but we can't rely on shots falling in order to play good defense all the time. It was a combination - we got some shots to fall, but we were much more focused defensively in the second half."
"For the most part I think we played unselfishly. I was proud of Phillip Anglade, he didn't score much and didn't have many assists but they were doubling the post so he was looking to throw the ball out. We got some open shots and I was proud of our guys moving the ball correctly."
"They had some more pop coming out of the gates early on and I don't know if our guys understood how good some of these players are. But I thought our guys responded well which was good to see."
"Conference play is the real deal and Furman is a good team. We'll work hard to prep for them before hitting the road."
