MACON, Ga. - VMI Basketball continues its two-game road swing Wednesday night in Macon, Georgia as it takes on the Mercers Bears in Southern Conference action . Tipoff will be 7 p.m. at Hawkins Arena  and the game will be the first of two January meetings between the teams as Mercer returns the trip to Cameron Hall January 25. The game can be seen on ESPN+. The Keydets are in a stretch where they play three of four contests on the road after wrapping up a two-game homestand last week. VMI, which held SoCon preseason favorite ETSU to 61 points in a loss at Johnson City, Tennessee is in search of its first conference win of the season heading into Wednesday night's contest.
 
The game tips at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+ (WatchESPN app / espn.com).
 
Last Time Out: ETSU 61, VMI 55 - January 11, 2020 - Johnson City, Tenn.
Down by just four points in the final minute of the game, the VMI basketball team rallied from down 14 points earlier in the second half but ultimately fell in the final moments as host ETSU escaped with a 61-55 win over the Keydets Saturday evening in Johnson City, Tennessee. ETSU (15-3, 4-1) converted 20 of 31 free throws during the game, including six of eight over the last 38 seconds of regulation, to hold off the Keydets (5-13, 0-5) for the win. ETSU led 35-21, its largest  lead of the game with 17:50 left before the Keydets rallied with a 9-2 run to trim the deficit to 37-30 following a pair of Travis Evee free throws at 13:26. The Bucs were able to push their lead back to double digits before freshman guard Kamdyn Curfman drained his first points with three consecutive treys to draw VMI within 47-39 with 8:46 left. The Bucs started both halves on 9-0 runs only to see the Keydets respond both times. ETSU placed four in double figures and was led by guard Patrick Good with 12 points while Vonnie Patterson and Lucas N'Guessan each scored 11 for the hosts. Evee led VMI with 13 points and five rebounds while Greg Parham hit double figures for the second consecutive game with 12 points. Garrett Gilkeson led the Keydets on the boards with 10 as VMI outrebounded its foe, 37-33.
 
Last Meeting with the Bears: VMI 84, Mercer 71 - February 28, 2019 - Lexington, Va.
VMI guard Bubba Parham poured in 31 points to help the Keydets to a 84-71 victory over visiting Mercer University in a Southern Conference game. VMI led 43-42 at halftime, behind five three-pointers and 20 points from Parham. The  Keydets held a 73-70 advantage with 4:34 remaining and took over defensively the rest of the game, forcing the Bears  to miss their last six shots and finished on an 11-1 run. Parham finished with six three pointers and was 9-9 from the  free-throw line with four assists. Sophomore Myles Lewis had 11 of his 17 points in the second half and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. He also blocked a career-high three shots, all after intermission, and added three assists and two steals. Junior Garrett Gilkeson posted 14 points, five rebounds and three assists and sophomore Sarju Patel contributed 12 points and six rebounds, hitting 3-of-4 three-point tries. VMI blocked five shots on the night which tied the most against a Division I opponent last season. Mercer had four scorers in double figures, led by Ethan Stair's 22. Ross Cummings had 15, but only three in the second half, and Jaylen Stowe had 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Marcus Cohen tallied 10 points and seven assists.
 
A win over Mercer would:
--- Give the Keydets their second straight win over the Bears
--- Give VMI its first win in January
 
SERIES HISTORY
VMI vs. Mercer
This will be the 14th meeting between the teams that first met in 2006. Mercer leads the series, 10-3, and has taken four of the last five meetings after the teams split the regular season meetings last year - Mercer prevailed 88-68 January 24th in Macon and VMI won the rematch on Lexington, 84-71 on February 28.
 
 
KEYDETS STINGY ON POINTS ALLOWED
Saturday's game at ETSU produced one of the better defensive efforts of the year as VMI allowed the Bucs just 61 points for its fewest allowed against a SoCon opponent this year and third lowest surrendered to a Division I opponent in 2019-20.
 
SO CLOSE
VMI enters Wednesday's game at Mercer looking for its first SoCon win of the year, but the Keydets have been remarkably competitive for a team that has yet to taste victory in early season league play. VMI has had single-digit deficits into the final two minutes in four of the five conference games.