LEXINGTON, Va. - After four consecutive games on the road to open the month of December, the VMI basketball team returns to Cameron Hall and the city of Lexington for a home matchup with North Alabama on Friday night at 7 p.m. The Keydets are searching for their first December victory and have fresh legs after a week off to take final examinations. It will be VMI's final non-conference home game of the season.
Last Time Out: Presbyterian 103, VMI 70 - Wednesday, Dec. 12
The Presbyterian College Blue Hose poured in 18 three-pointers and shot 62.7% from the floor in posting a 103-70 win over visiting VMI in non-conference action on Dec. 12 at the Templeton Center in Clinton, South Carolina.
PC guard JC Younger led the Blue Hose with 30 points and hit 9 of 11 shots from beyond the arc to tie a school Division I record. Presbyterian also got double figures scoring from guard Adam Flagler who knocked in a trio of three-pointers and was a perfect 10 of 10 from the stripe to finish with 25 points. Forward Francois Lewis added 11 points for the hosts who evened their season mark to 5-5. VMI (5-7) was led by guard Bubba Parham who scored 26 points including five three-pointers. Entering the game as the SoCon leading scorer, Parham canned 10 of 15 shots from the floor in posting his 13th career 20-point+ game. Garrett Gilkeson scored 14 points and forward Tyler Creamer added 12 points for the Keydets.
The Keydets dominated the first five minutes of the game racing to a 17-5 lead by the first media timeout. The Keydets converted six of their first eight shots from the field while the Blue Hose missed seven of their first nine tries from the floor. By the second media timeout, the game had changed abruptly as Presbyterian unleashed a three-point barrage that quickly turned the tables in favor of the
home team.
Last Meeting with North Alabama:
First meeting between the two programs.
A win over North Alabama would ...
--- Break VMI's current five-game losing streak
--- Give VMI its first win of December
Series History – VMI vs. North Alabama
First meeting
Bubba Still on Top
Through games of December 9, sophomore guard Bubba Parham continues to lead the SoCon in scoring with a 21.2 PPG average. Parham entered December with four straight 30+ point games, and became the fi rst SoCon player to tally 30 or more points in four straight contests since Steph Curry of Davidson in 2008-09. Not just a scorer, Parham also garnered a career-high nine rebounds with a 30-point outing in VMI's win 87-79 OT win at Stetson. Parham started his blistering four-game scoring stretch when he scored a career-high 35 points and knocked down a school record 10 3-pointers in the 92-82 loss at #10 ranked Kentucky Nov. 18. It was the fi rst time Parham had surpassed the 30+ point plateau in a game in his career and he followed it up two nights later with 33 points against Kentucky Christian at Cameron Hall. Parham, the 2018 SoCon Freshman of the Year as selected by the media, has 12 games of 20+ points in his career.
