Sean Conway vs Wofford 5
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Men's Basketball

Keydets Head to ETSU Monday in Rescheduled SoCon Game

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VMI basketball will play its first road game of the 2021 calendar year when it takes on ETSU Monday night in Johnson City, Tennessee. Tipoff at Freedom Hall will be 7 pm. The game was rescheduled after being postponed January 9 due to COVID protocols. The Keydets (7-6, 2-2) enter the game fresh off a 110-103 victory over conference military rival The Citadel Saturday at Cameron Hall. VMI was sparked by several career high performances from its starters including 33 points from junior center Jake Stephens and was also boosted by 27 and 25 points from guards Greg Parham and Sean Conway, respectively. The game moved VMI to 7-1 at home this season. ETSU fell to Furman Saturday, 78-66, in a battle of the last two unbeaten teams in SoCon play. The Bucs (6-5, 2-1 SoCon) were playing their first game since January 2 and had three games postponed prior to the Furman game. The Bucs enter Monday's action having won five of their last seven games. VMI and ETSU are also scheduled to play February 24 in Lexington in VMI's home finale of the season.
 
Last Time Out: VMI 110, The Citadel 103 - January 16, 2021
Junior center Jake Stephens scored 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and guards Greg Parham and Sean Conway each added 27 and 25 points, respectively, to lead VMI to a 110-103 victory over The Citadel in Southern Conference basketball action Saturday afternoon at Cameron Hall. It was the first 30-point game for Stephens in his career as he went 11-of-22 from the floor and converted eight-of-nine from the line for the big scoring day. Parham posted his third straight 20-point+ effort and Conway garnered career highs both in points and rebounds with 13 while hitting a career-high seven 3-point shots. The Keydets shot 52.2% from the floor and canning 12-of-27 beyond the three-point line for 44.4%. Senior guard Kaiden Rice, who tops the SoCon in 3FG per game, led the Citadel with 29 points including seven 3-pointers while senior forward Hayden Brown added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs (8-2, 1-2 SoCon). VMI converted 26-of-30 free throws including 14-of-16 over the last 5:37 to hold off a Citadel rally. The Bulldogs went 22-of-32 from the stripe on the afternoon. The Keydets led 82-67 for their largest margin of the contest with 9:04 left in the second half following a Parham jumper in the lane. The Bulldogs quickly responded with a 7-0 run to climb back and later pulled within 106-100 on a Brown layup with :24 left. Conway responded by converting two free throws at the :20 mark to push the cushion back to eight points, and Citadel guard Brent Davis rammed in a 3-pointer to make it 108-103 with 16 seconds remaining. VMI inbounded and guard Kamdyn Curfman was fouled and sank two free throws with :09 to cap the scoring and send the Keydets to their fourth straight win over the Bulldogs.
 
Last Time against the Bucs: ETSU 72, VMI 67 - February 15, 2020
Despite leading by a 38-32 score at the half, the VMI basketball team couldn't withstand an ETSU rally and fell 72-67 at Cameron Hall. The Bucs took advantage of 28 VMI personal fouls and finished the game going 31-35 from the charity stripe, including an 11-11 mark by ETSU guard Daivien Williamson. Several Keydets played well including freshman Travis Evee, who finished the game with 23 points on 7-12 shooting and 5-for-9 from three-point range. It was his sixth 20-point game of the season. Fellow freshman Sean Conway recorded his first career double-double as he finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds with six of the 10 boards coming on the offensive end. VMI played well in the opening half as the Keydets opened the game going 14-30 from the field (46 percent) and converted seven of 18 three-pointers to gradually build the 38-32 lead at the break. Freshman Kamdyn Curfman finished with 10 points on 4-9 shooting while Myles Lewis and Greg Parham both contributed eight points apiece.
 
A win over ETSU would:
---Give VMI its first road win of the year
---Move VMI to 3-2 in conference play
 
 
VMI vs. ETSU
This will be the 66th meeting between the teams that first met in 1953. ETSU leads the series, 51-14, and has taken the last ten meetings including a 61-55 in decision in Johnson City and 72-67 win in Lexington last season. VMI's last win at ETSU was January 2, 1999 when they prevailed 58-55 in the Mini-dome.
 
NOTING THE KEYDETS
 
PARHAM REVS UP IN CONFERENCE PLAY – Senior guard Greg Parham has stepped up his play in Southern Conference action averaging 24.8 points in four conference contests which tops the league. Parham scored a season-high 29 points against Wofford Jan. 13 also ringing up a career-high seven three-pointers in eight attempts, then followed with 27 points and career-high nine rebounds in the win over The Citadel Jan. 16. Parham has produced five 20 point+ games this year including his last three games. He also tops the SoCon in 3-point percentage with a 51.9% mark.
 
STEPHENS CONTINUES TO ROLL – Junior center Jake Stephens scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the 110-103 victory over The Citadel January 16 and chalked up his third double-double of the season and fourth of his career. Stephens earlier posted double-doubles against George Mason (14 points, 10 rebounds) December 21 and Hampton (11 points, 12 rebounds) December 13. Stephens has hit 36 of his last 41 free throw attempts over the last six games and is third in the SoCon in free throw shooting at 85.7%.
 
CONWAY ERUPTS vs. THE CITADEL – Sophomore guard Sean Conway produced a career day in VMI's 110-103 win over The Citadel when he posted bests in points (25), rebounds (13) and 3-pointers (7). Against the Bulldogs, Conway hit on 8 of 14 from the floor and was seven of 10 beyond the arc in almost 37 minutes of action. Conway has grabbed 21 rebounds over the past two games after being credited with nine against Wofford January 13.
 
IRON KEYDETS – A quick scan of the box score in VMI's 110-108 win over The Citadel revealed something quite remarkable. VMI starters accounted for 108 of the 110 points scored and all of the starting five logged at least 33:17 minutes of action. Topping the workload was sophomore guard Kamdyn Curfman who was on the floor for 39:23, followed by Greg Parham (38:03), Sean Conway (36:51), Jake Stephens (34:10), and Trey Bonham (33:17).  
 
BONHAM SHINES IN STARTING DEBUT –
Freshman point guard Trey Bonham scored a season and career high 20 points against Wofford Jan. 13 in his first start of the year which gave him his seventh double figures scoring game of the year. Against the Terriers, Bonham also set a new career-high in assists and matched his career best of five rebounds. Bonham added 14 points in another start Saturday against The Citadel for his eighth double-double of the season.
 
LONG RANGE ACCURACY – Through games of January 16, VMI is second in the SoCon in three-point percentage (39.6%) and second in 3FG made per game (11.4) which is fourth in Division I. The Keydets have drained 10 or more threes in nine games this season. VMI hit a season-best 58.8% in 3-point shooting when they dropped in 10 of 17 shots from beyond the arc against Chattanooga January 2.
 
TOPS FROM THE STRIPE - Through games of January 16, VMI is first in the SoCon in free throw shooting percentage converting at an 80.6% success rate which ranks fifth in the nation.
 
EARL GETS #50 – The 84-79 win over Chattanooga January 2 marked the 50th win at VMI for head basketball coach Dan Earl.
 
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 13 games, Curfman is hitting 44.4 % in 3-point shooting which ranks fifth in the SoCon. 
 
NOTEWORTHY – VMI is currently 7-1 in games when leading at the half and also when outrebounding a foe…the 6-0 home start was the best home record to start a season since 2013-14 when VMI won its first eight games at Cameron Hall…VMI has produced at least two 20+ point scorers the last three games.
 
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 fourth in the SoCon with 25 blocks (1.9/game).
 
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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Players Mentioned

Travis Evee

#3 Travis Evee

G
6' 0"
Freshman
Sean Conway

#30 Sean Conway

G
6' 5"
Sophomore
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
Jake Stephens

#34 Jake Stephens

C
6' 10"
Junior
Trey Bonham

#2 Trey Bonham

G
6' 0"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Travis Evee

#3 Travis Evee

6' 0"
Freshman
G
Sean Conway

#30 Sean Conway

6' 5"
Sophomore
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
Jake Stephens

#34 Jake Stephens

6' 10"
Junior
C
Trey Bonham

#2 Trey Bonham

6' 0"
Freshman
G