ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Sophomore Jake Stephens poured in a career-high 24 points including six 3-pointers to lead VMI to a 96-78 win over Samford in the first round of the 2020 Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championships at the Harrah's Cherokee Center.
 
VMI (9-23) snapped an 11-game skid to Samford  (10-23) and posted their first win over the Bulldogs since January 21, 2016 thanks to a SoCon Tournament record and season-best 18 made 3-pointers including a 6-of-7 shooting performance beyond the arc from Stephens. The 18 threes matched the season best hit earlier against Stetson on December 7 at Cameron Hall.
 
The Keydets advance to quarterfinal action for the second straight year and face top-seeded ETSU Saturday at noon.
 
The Keydets placed five in double-figures scoring and also received 16 points from junior Greg Parham. Freshman guard Travis Evee added 16 points while freshman guard Kamdyn Curfman and junior forward Myles Lewis added 14 and 13 points, respectively.
 
VMI senior forward Garrett Gilkeson dished out a team high seven assists and with eight rebounds helped the Keydets amass a 44-39 advantage on the boards. The Keydets also handed out 23 assists on the night, second most in a game this season.
 
Samford redshirt senior Brandon Austin paced the Bulldogs with 20 points while guard Josh Sharkey closed out his college career with 19 points and 10 assists.
 
VMI had dropped a pair of two-possession  games to Samford in the regular season, but the Keydets never trailed in the tourney rematch and turned things around early behind blistering 3-point shooting in the first half - going 11-of-20 beyond the arc and taking a 52-30 halftime lead.
 
The Keydets' cushion swelled to 34 points (69-35) at the 15:04 mark of the second half before Samford mounted an 11-2 run to trim the lead to 25 with just under 12 minutes remaining, but could not close within a 16-point margin the rest of the way.
 
VMI Head Coach Dan Earl -
 
"I was super proud of the guys. We were ready to play and executed the game plan very well. When the ball goes in the basket, everybody looks better. To shoot such a good percentage from three and to make as many as we did, it was a credit to our guys."
 
"We shared the ball and moved it around and got some good looks. It was nice that we were able to knock a bunch down today."
 
"A very good game by Jake Stephens and when he's making shots, he's really good. He really stretched the floor for us and made some good decisions."
 
"ETSU prides themselves on toughness and rebounding and we're going to have to take the game on and be strong and physical with the basketball. Keeping them off the boards will be a challenge and Steve Forbes has done a good job."