Keydets to Face Wofford Wednesday at Cameron Hall

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The VMI basketball team will face all the SoCon members from the state of South Carolina in the coming week starting with Wednesday night's date with the Wofford Terriers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 pm. The Keydets are off to a 6-0 mark at home so far this season, the best since the 2013-14 campaign when they started 8-0 at Cameron Hall. VMI carries a 6-5 overall mark and 1-1 league record into Wednesday night's game after holding off Chattanooga 84-79 on Jan. 2 in Lexington. That game marked the most recent competition for the Keydets who had their scheduled road games at ETSU and Furman postponed last week due to COVID issues. The unexpected 10-day break is VMI's longest pause from competition so far this season. Wofford carries a 6-4 overall and 3-1 SoCon record in Wednesday's action outlasting UNCG 48-45 Saturday in Greensboro. The Keydets are also scheduled to face in the coming week The Citadel Saturday, January 16, at ETSU on Monday, January 18, and Furman Wednesday, January 20.

Last Time Out: VMI 84, Chattanooga 79 - January 2, 2021
Junior Jake Stephens and senior Greg Parham each scored 25 points as the VMI Keydets defeated Chattanooga 84-79 in Southern Conference play January 2. The Keydets remain unbeaten in Cameron Hall this season, improving to 6-0. Parham's point total is a season-high, and Stephens' final tally was just one short of a career-best. Parham added five rebounds and four assists, hitting 3-of-4 three pointers while Stephens nailed 4-of-6 from distance and added nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Sophomore Kamdyn Curfman scored 17 points with five assists and Myles Lewis finished with nine points and four boards. Sean Conway compiled five points and seven rebounds. The Keydets hit 10 threes (10-17), the seventh time in 11 games to reach double-figure treys. Chattanooga held just one lead the entire game, 17-16 at the 10-minute mark of the first half. VMI was ahead 37-35 at intermission and led 13 with three minutes to play before UTC started to chip away. The Mocs cut into the deficit and trailed just 78-74 with 35 seconds left, but VMI sealed the game at the free-throw line (18-23 for the game). David Jean-Baptist scored a career-high 29 for Chattanooga (9-2/0-2 SoCon), including 19 in the second half.

Last Time against the Terriers: Wofford 79, VMI 73 - February 5, 2020
Despite a season-high 28 points from guard Garrett Gilkeson, VMI fell 79-73 to visiting Wofford College at Cameron Hall. The 6-4 senior from Parkersburg, W. Va. poured in 21 of his game-high total after intermission and kept the Keydet comeback hopes alive late in the contest. VMI trailed by 13 with under two minutes left to play, but an aggressive press defense and hot shooting from Gilkeson made it a two-possession game (75-70) with 27 seconds left. Gilkeson netted 11 points in the game's final two minutes, but the Terriers made their last six free throws to hold on for the win. Gilkeson also tied for the game-high with nine rebounds and added three assists and three steals. He shot 11-of-16 from the field and 4-of-5 from long distance. Sophomore center Jake Stephens scored 11 points and contributed six rebounds, three blocks, three assists and two steals. Louis Tang scored nine with five rebounds and Greg Parham posted seven points, five assists and four boards. Travis Evee tallied eight points and four assists. Chevez Goodwin paced Wofford with a career-high 27 points and nine rebounds with 20 trips to the free-throw line. Nathan Hoover had 18 points and Trevor Stumpe had nine points and four assists. The Terriers made 26-of-43 attempts from the charity stripe.

A win over Wofford would:
---Move VMI to 7-0 at home – its best start since 2013-14.
---End a 15-game skid against the Terriers.

VMI vs. Wofford
This will be the 25th meeting between the teams that first met in 1970. Wofford leads the series, 18-6, and has taken the last 15 meetings including wins 66-54 (Spartanburg, SC) and 79-73 (Lexington, Va.) last year. VMI last defeated the Terriers, 69-60 on February 10, 2001 in Lexington. The rivalry paused for 11 seasons (2003-04 through 2013-2014) when VMI was a member of the Big South Conference.

WINNING THE CLOSE ONES – VMI's 84-79 win over Chattanooga January 2 was the first Keydet victory of the year by five or less points and moved VMI to 1-1 in such games this year. Last year, VMI was 2-8 in games decided by five points or less.

EARL GETS #50 – The 84-79 win over Chattanooga January 2 marked the 50th win at VMI for head basketball coach Dan Earl.

PARHAM AND STEPHENS COMBINE FOR 50 – Senior guard Greg Parham and junior center Jake Stephens each scored 25 points to lead VMI to the 84-79 win over Chattanooga January 2. It was Parham's third 20-point+ game of the year and a season high scoring output while Stephens was one point shy of his career-high 26 points at Gardner-Webb December 18. The Chattanooga game was also the first time VMI had two 20-point scorers in a game since January 4, 2020 when Travis Evee (24) and Garrett Gilkeson (22) surpassed the mark against Samford at Cameron Hall.

LONG RANGE ACCURACY – VMI hit a season-best 58.8% in 3-point shooting when they drained 10 of 17 shots from beyond the arc against Chattanooga January 2. It also marked the seventh time this season that the Keydets have hit 10 or more threes in a game. Through games of January 9, VMI is second in the SoCon in three-point percentage (38.7%) and second in 3FG made per game (11.2).

CURFMAN EXPANDS IMPACT – VMI sophomore guard Kamdyn Curfman not only matched his season high 17 points for the fourth time this season in the win over Chattanooga Jan. 2, he also dished out a career-best five assists for the second straight game after handing out five at Samford December 30. Curfman has also established himself as one of the best 3-point shooters in the SoCon and has hit a career-best five 3FG in three games this season and six for his career. Through 11 games, Curfman is hitting 49.3 % in 3-point shooting which ranks first in the SoCon.

PARHAM HANDING OUT – Senior guard Greg Parham's play has extended the holiday spirit into the New Year over the last five games as he has handed out 21 assists over that span. Parham dished out five assists in VMI's 106-72 win over Clarksburg-Harrodsburg Dec. 15 and followed with a season-high six assists at Gardner-Webb December 18. Through 11 games, Parham leads the team averaging 3.9 per game which is tied for sixth in the SoCon.

TOPS FROM THE STRIPE - Through games of January 9, VMI leads the SoCon in free throw shooting percentage converting at an 81.2% success rate.

NOTEWORTHY – VMI is currently 6-1 in games when leading at the half and also when outrebounding a foe…the 6-0 home start is the best home record to start a season since 2013-14 when VMI won its first eight games at Cameron Hall…the 84 points against Chattanooga January 2 matched the D-I season point high mark also set against Hampton December 13.

BONHAM SHINES IN HOMECOMING – Freshman guard Trey Bonham had a memorable homecoming trip back to Alabama December 30 when he scored a career-high 15 points including a career-best three 3-point goals at Samford. Bonham, from Mobile, Alabama, also logged three steals which equaled his top mark he had in the season opener against St. Andrew's November 25. The Samford game gave Bonham his sixth double-figures scoring game of the year and first since December 15 when he tallied 11 points against Campbellsville-Harrodsburg.

BLOCK PARTY FOR STEPHENS – Junior center Jake Stephens set a new career-best in blocks when he rejected five Samford shots December 30. Stephens currently ranks third in the SoCon with 23 blocks (2.0/game).

STEPHENS CONTINUES TO ROLL – Junior center Jake Stephens chalked up his second double-double of the season and third of his career with 14 points and 10 rebounds against George Mason December 21. Stephens previously set a new career-high in points when he tallied 26 against Gardner-Webb December 18 surpassing his previous high of 24 set against Samford in the first round of the 2020 SoCon tournament. Against the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs, Stephens hit seven of 15 shots including two 3-pointers and grabbed nine rebounds while hitting 10 of 11 from the line. Stephens has hit 25 of his last 28 free throw attempts over the last four games and is third in the SoCon in free throw shooting at 86.0%.

LEWIS DECEMBER DOUBLE STREAK – Senior forward Myles Lewis had his string of three straight double-doubles end on December 15 after 12 points and five rebounds against CU-Harrodsburg. Lewis earlier had posted 14 points and 11 rebounds Sunday against Hampton that followed 17 points and 10 rebounds against Greensboro College Dec. 8. Lewis started the string with 13 points and 12 rebounds in the Dec. 3 game at 16th ranked Virginia Tech. Lewis currently leads the Keydets on the boards averaging 7.4 per game which ranks fourth in the SoCon.

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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