curfman vs. st. andrews
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Men's Basketball

Keydets Play First Road Game at Penn State Saturday

LEXINGTON, Va. - The VMI basketball team will travel to State College, Pa., Saturday afternoon to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions in the first road contest of the season for the Keydets. Tip-off at the Bryce Jordan Center will be 1 pm. The game will feature the return of VMI head coach Dan Earl to his alma mater where he was a standout guard and later served as an assistant coach.
 
Last Time Out: VMI 90, St. Andrews 63
The VMI basketball team opened its 2020-21 season in impressive fashion Wednesday evening, posting a 90-63 victory over visiting St. Andrews University (N.C.) from Cameron Hall. The Keydets quickly took control with a 13-0 run five minutes into regulation, fueled by a pair of treys from sophomore Kamdyn Curfman. VMI led 38-26 with 5:33 left in the half and closed out the first frame on a 14-2 surge to hold a 52-28 edge at intermission. The Keydets netted the first 10 points of the second half and never looked back. VMI had six players in double figures as the Keydets won their fifth-straight season opener in Cameron Hall. Senior guard Ta'Vonne Bond scored a career and game-high 15 points for VMI, hitting 6-of-7 from the field. Myles Lewis and Greg Parham each posted 13 points, Curfman contributed 11 while Louis Tang and Trey Bonham added 10 each. The Keydets handed out 23 assists, just one shy of matching their season high from last year (Nov. 17, 2019 vs. UC Davis in 2 OT). VMI nailed 13 three pointers, three each from Curfman, Parham and Bond. Travis Thompson, Jr. paced St. Andrews with a team-best 14 points, while Clay added 11. Xzavier McFadden posted eight points and a game-high six rebounds.
 
Last Time against Penn State: Dec. 14, 2015
A 17-3 run that began early in the second half broke open a close game and helped send the Penn State Nittany Lions past the VMI Keydets, 62-50 in State College, Pa. The first half of the contest was a defensive struggle, as Penn State took a 29-24 lead to the locker room. It was still a five-point game, 31-26, at the 18:30 mark, but the Nittany Lions started the 17-3 spurt with a Payton Banks jumper just over a minute later to go up 48-29 and the Keydets got no closer than 12 the rest of the way. Julian Eleby led the Keydets with 13 points, but Penn State held VMI to 36.7% from the field (18 of 49). Shep Garner led Penn State with 15points. VMI guard Q.J. Peterson was limited to 3 of 18 shooting from the floor and finished with eight points to go along with a team leading four assists. VMI forward Trey Chapman hit four of seven shots from the field to finish with nine points and four rebounds and senior forward Phillip Anglade scored eight points and collected a team-high six rebounds. The Keydets, facing a much taller Penn State squad, were limited to seven assists and committed 14 turnovers that were converted into 13 points for the home team. The Nittany Lions also outscored VMI in the paint, 30-16.
 
A win over Penn State would:
--- Give VMI its second win in the series between the schools.   
--- Move VMI to 2-0 for the first time since the 2013-14 season.  
 
SERIES HISTORY
VMI vs. Penn State
This will be the sixth meeting between VMI and Penn State and the first since the 2015-16 season. The Nittany Lions leads the rivalry 4-1 with VMI's lone win coming in the 1997-98 season.
  
EARL RETURNS TO PENN STATE 
VMI head basketball coach Dan Earl returns to his alma mater Saturday when the Keydets face Penn State. Earl was a standout guard when he helped the Nittany Lions to one of the most prolific winning periods in the mid 90's before spending six years from 2006 to 2011 as an assistant coach under Ed DeChellis.Earl scored 1,256 points and dished out 574 assists in his career at Penn State. Earl also made his head coaching debut at Penn State when he brought the Keydets to State College in the 2015-16 opener.
 
VMI PLACES SIX IN DOUBLE FIGURES SCORING
Balanced scoring highlighted VMI's season opening win against St. Andrews Nov. 25 as six Keydets reached double figures scoring including freshman guard Trey Bonham. It was the first time since last year's regular season finale at Samford Feb. 29 that VMI had six tally 10+points in a contest.
 
SCHEDULE ADJUSTMENTS
The December 1 game VMI-Lancaster Bible game scheduled for Cameron Hall has been canceled due to COVID-19 issues with the visiting team. Efforts to find a replacement opponent for that date are forthgoing and will be announced at a later time.
 
NEW OPPONENTS FOR 2020-21
VMI will be facing four new opponents in 2021 including Wednesday night's season opener against St. Andrew's. The Knights from Laurinburg, N.C. are 1-2 on the young season after falling to Bluefield College 92-67 on Saturday night. Also facing VMI for the first time this year are Regent, Hampton University and Campbellsville-Harrodsburg.
 
 
THREE SHOOTING SPREE EXTENDED?
Keydet fans are hoping for a continuation of last season's formidable shooting from beyond the arc. VMI in 2019-20 ranked second in Division I in three-pointers made averaging 10.9 per game, second only to North Florida. VMI hit 18 three-pointers against Samford in the opening round of the SoCon tournament March 6 and for the season connected on 359 threes – third most on the school all-time list.
 
 
KEYDET CAPSULE LOOK
VMI returns 10 players from last year's roster including three starters. The 2020-21 roster consists of four seniors, two juniors, four sophomores, and five freshmen.
 
 
EARL ENTERS SIXTH SEASON
VMI head basketball coach Dan Earl enters his sixth season as head coach of the Keydets and is moving into some select company in the Keydet all-time coaching ranks. Earl joins Louis "Weenie Miller (1958-64) and Charlie Schmaus (1976-82) as coaches who reached six seasons at the helm. Only Joe Cantafio (1986-94), Duggar Baucom (2005-15) and Bart Bellairs (1994—05) had longer tenures as basketball head coach at the Institute.


 
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Players Mentioned

Ta

#12 Ta'Vonne Bond

G
6' 0"
Senior
Kamdyn Curfman

#10 Kamdyn Curfman

G
6' 1"
Sophomore
Myles Lewis

#15 Myles Lewis

G
6' 5"
Senior
Greg Parham

#5 Greg Parham

G
6' 4"
Senior
Louis Tang

#0 Louis Tang

G
6' 4"
Sophomore
Trey Bonham

#2 Trey Bonham

G
6' 0"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Ta

#12 Ta'Vonne Bond

6' 0"
Senior
G
Kamdyn Curfman

#10 Kamdyn Curfman

6' 1"
Sophomore
G
Myles Lewis

#15 Myles Lewis

6' 5"
Senior
G
Greg Parham

#5 Greg Parham

6' 4"
Senior
G
Louis Tang

#0 Louis Tang

6' 4"
Sophomore
G
Trey Bonham

#2 Trey Bonham

6' 0"
Freshman
G