Chattanooga Holds on for 71-64 win over VMI Basketball

LEXINGTON, Va. – The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga took advantage of cold shooting from the VMI men's basketball team Wednesday evening in a 71-64 Southern Conference victory.

The Keydets trailed by as many as 20 late in the second half, but a furious comeback made it a two-possession game in the closing seconds. VMI finished the game on a 19-8 run and shot 60 percent (18-30) in the second half, 82 percent (14-17) from two-point range.  

Chattanooga scored the game's first 12 points as VMI missed its first eight shots from the floor. The Keydets were forced to look for other ways to score as they didn't connect on their first three-pointer of the game until 10:37 of the second half, missing the first 14 treys. VMI came into the game leading the SoCon with 10.8 three-pointers made per game.

Freshman guard Sean Conway paced VMI with 15 points, nine in the second half with two threes. Fellow freshman Kamdyn Curfman added 12 points and two three-pointers while Greg Parham had nine points and two steals. Louis Tang came off the bench for eight points and a team-high six rebounds and Travis Evee finished with six points and five assists.

Matt Ryan posted game highs of 18 points and eight rebounds for Chattanooga (18-12/9-8). Maurice Commander had 15 points and six boards, Trey Doomes contributed 13 points and seven caroms while Ramon Vila had 12 points and seven rebounds.

The Mocs held VMI to 16 percent free-throw shooting (4-25) for the game and hit 23 of 35 from the free throw stripe (66%), compared to VMI's 6-of-10 (60%).

VMI (8-22/3-14 SoCon) closes out the regular season at Samford University (Ala.) Saturday at 5 p.m. Keydet seniors Garrett Gilkeson, Tyler Creammer and Will Miller played their last games in Cameron Hall.

Quotes from head coach Dan Earl:

"To say we had a slow start is being kind - there was a lid on the basket. That's not to take anything away from Chattanooga who had a very good game plan and executed well on defense. Coach Paris is doing a very good job with their team. I don't we played as hard as we needed to particularly at the end of the first half. With that said, there's a lot of basketball left to be played. I thought our guys continued to fight. We're not trying to keep games close. But we showed the fabric of our team and that we continue to fight and play hard throughout the game."