Fresh off its first SoCon win of the season last Saturday, VMI Basketball opens a two-game road swing beginning Thursday night at Mercer at 7:30 p.m. before facing military conference rival The Citadel Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. in Charleston, S.C. The Keydets will play all three remaining January games away from Cameron Hall, closing out the month Jan. 31 at UNCG. Thursday's game at Mercer will be broadcast on ESPN+ at 7:30 p.m.
Last Time Out: VMI 91, Western Carolina 83 - January 19, 2019
Sophomore guard Bubba Parham scored 33 points Saturday afternoon to lead VMI to a 91-83 victory over visiting Western Carolina. The game was tight the entire way - with 18 lead changes. VMI held a 47-44 lead at intermission, but the Catamounts forged a 75-73 advantage after a three-pointer by Kameron Gibson at the 5:21 mark. The Keydets went on an 8-0 run, fueled by two three-point plays from freshman center Jake Stephens, one from beyond the arc and the second on a traditional layup and free throw. Western Carolina trimmed the lead to just two (82-80) with under two minutes to play, but a Parham layup made it a four-point game and VMI iced the contest by sinking seven of eight free throws. Sarju Patel finished with 17 points - 13 in the second half, with four rebounds. Stephens contributed 16 points and two blocked shots, while Myles Lewis netted 13 points. VMI's 18 assists was the second-highest total this season against a Division I foe, and their six turnovers tied its season-low on the year. Western Carolina had three players reach the 20-point mark: Onno Steger (27), Matt Halvorsen (23) and Gibson (20).
Last Meeting with Mercer: Mercer 82, VMI 58- Feb. 15, 2018
Senior guard Demetre Rivers scored 21 points on seven of eight shooting from the floor to help lead Mercer to an 82-58 win over VMI at Hawkins Arena. VMI freshman guard Bubba Parham and led the Keydets with 16 points while junior forward Austin Vereen finished with 14 points and drained four three-point shots and Jordan Ratliffe added 14 points. Sophomore guard Ross Cummings added 14 points and senior guard Jordan Strawberry tallied 10 points and eight assists for the Bears.
A win over Mercer would ...
End a four-game skid to the Bears and be VMI's first win in Macon since January 2, 2008
Series History – VMI vs. Mercer
This will be the 12th meeting between the teams that first met in 2006. Mercer leads the series, 9-2, and has taken the last four meetings including wins 62-56 (Lexington, Va.) and 82-58 (Macon, Ga.) last year. VMI last defeated the Bears, 91-82 on February 25, 2016 in Lexington.
Hot Shooting Leads Keydets vs. WCU
VMI turned in its best shooting performance of the year hitting 32 of 57 shots for a season-high 56.1% in the 91-83 win over Western Carolina January 19. The Keydets also dished out 18 assists – the second highest vs. a DI opponent this year.
Lewis Shines vs. Bucs
Sophomore forward Miles Lewis turned in a solid performance in the Jan. 19 85-82 loss at ETSU missing his first double-double by a single rebound. Lewis hit 7 of 14 shots from the floor and finished with 17 points, one-point shy of his career-high 18 points. Lewis also tied a career-high in rebounds with nine versus ETSU. He has 11 double figures scoring games on the year after scoring 13 points against Western Carolina on January 19. Lewis has averaged 12.8 points and 5.0 rebounds over his last four games including four straight double-figures scoring games.
