GREENVILLE, S.C. - The VMI Basketball team will close out the month of January they way it began– with a Southern Conference game against the Furman Paladins. VMI and Furman will square off Wednesday night at Timmons Arena for the second regular season meeting after playing January 1 in Lexington. It will be the 100th overall meeting in the series between the schools. The Keydets will be looking to bounce back after a tough 69-66 home setback to Mercer Saturday while the Paladins look to extend their two-game win streak after defeating The Citadel, 78-54, Saturday in Charleston . Wednesday's contest can be seen on ESPN+.
 
Last Time Out: Mercer 69, VMI 66 - January 25, 2020 - Lexington, Va.
The VMI basketball team tied the score late in the contest, but fell just short Saturday as Mercer University (Ga.) defeated the Keydets 69-66 in a Southern Conference game. VMI led by as many as five in the first half and had a 16-14 advantage with 10 minutes remaining. The game was tight for the entire second half, and a Jake Stephens layup tied it at 61 all with just under two minutes left on the game clock. Kamar Robertson and Djordje Dimitijevic nailed clutch three pointers for the Bears to make it a six-point game and Dimitijevic sealed the win at the free-throw line. Myles Lewis scored a team-high 14 points, grabbed a season-high nine rebounds with two steals. Greg Parham shot 5-of-7 from the floor for 12 points and handed out four assists while Stephens hit three three-pointers and ended with 11 points. Parham reached double figures for the sixth-straight game. The Keydets shot just 17.6 percent (3-17) from three-point range in the first half and 25.6 percent (10-39) for the game. Mercer hit 50 percent (11-22) of its' threes and 46.3 percent total (25-54). VMI is 1-5 in games this year decided by five points or less. Dimitijevic, the fourth-leading scorer in the Southern Conference, finished with 25 points, five three pointers and six rebounds. Robertson had 16 points and six rebounds while Jeff Gary added 11 points and six assists.
 
Last Meeting with the Paladins: Furman 89, VMI 73 - Jan. 1, 2020 - Lexington, Va.
Senior guard Jordan Lyons scored a season-high 40 points behind 10 three-pointers to lead Furman to an 89-73 win at VMI in Southern Conference action. Lyons drilled 10-of-12 three-point attempts and made all eight of his free throws with four assists. Lyons' 10 threes ties a Cameron Hall record, sharing the mark with Shawn Moore of Marshall University set on Jan. 16, 1995. Freshman Sean Conway led VMI with 15 points, sinking 7-of-8 from the charity stripe, and five steals. Garrett Gilkeson had 12 points, three assists and two steals while Travis Evee posted nine points and three assists. Louis Tang also scored nine and Jake Stephens grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to go with five points. The Paladins (12- 3/2-0 SoCon) hit 13-of-25 treys (54%) for the game and shot 28-of-49 from the floor overall (57.1%). The Keydets shot just 8-of-29 from distance (27.6%) and 25-of-60 (37%) overall.
 
A win over Furman would:
--- Earn a split of the regular season series.
--- End a nine-game skid against the Paladins
 

SERIES HISTORY
VMI vs. Furman
This will be the 100th meeting between the teams that first met in 1939. Furman leads the series, 65-34, and has taken the last nine meetings. VMI last defeated the Paladins, 93-59 on February 12, 2015 in Lexington and captured their last win in Greenville that same year on January 10 with an 83-73 victory over the Paladins.
 
NOTING THE KEYDETS
PARHAM DOUBLES UP
Junior guard Greg Parham delivered his sixth straight double figures scoring game when he tallied 12 points against Mercer Jan. 25. The scoring burst began against WCU Jan. 8, when Parham made his first start since December 7 and scored 10 points. The scoring string also includes a conference-high 16 points against The Citadel Jan. 18 in a game that Parham handed out a season-high nine assists. On the season, Parham has nine double figures scoring games and has averaged 12.2 points over his last six games.
 
BALL SECURITY STRONG
VMI committed a season-low six turnovers against Mercer on January 25 -the third time this season the Keydets have turned over the ball less than ten times in a contest. The Keydets co-lead the SoCon in assist/turnover ratio with a 1.3 mark.
 
ANOTHER CLOSE ONE
The 69-66 loss to Mercer Jan. 25 dropped the Keydets to 1-5 in games this season decided by five points or less. The Keydets suffered three losses by a combined six points over its first five games of the season before breaking through with an 89-84 double-overtime win November 17 vs. UC Davis in the Red Wolves Classic.
 
THREE-BALL REPORT
VMI continued to drain three-point shots at a high rate by pouring in 10 against Mercer January 25. The Keydets remain second in the nation in 3-pointers made per game with a 10.8 listing. VMI also hit 16 shots from beyond the arc in the January 4 game against Samford for their most against a Division I opponent. VMI has hit 10+ threes in ten of the last 17 games.
 
KEYDETS IN THE LEAGUE STATS
Through 22 games, VMI continues to lead or co-lead the SoCon in 3-pointers made per game (10.8), assists per game (16.5) and assist/turnover ratio (1.3). The Keydets also rank third in third in the SoCon in free throw pct (72.2%).