VMI's Parham Nets 24 in 74-73 Thriller over Furman

LEXINGTON, Va. – Senior guard Greg Parham delivered 22 of his game-high 24 points in the second half to lift the VMI men's basketball team to a thrilling 74-73 win over first-place Furman University in a Southern Conference game.

Parham, the reigning SoCon Player of the Week, was held to just a pair of free throws by the Paladin defense in the game's first 20 minutes but exploded after intermission. With his team trailing 60-58 with 6:29 remaining, Parham scored VMI's next 12 points to give the Keydets a 70-67 advantage with 1:25 on the game clock. He hit two three-pointers in that span, a layup, and two contested floating jumpers in the paint.  

Furman's Alex Hunter nailed a three-pointer to tie the game, but VMI answered with a layup from senior Myles Lewis with 43 ticks left on a backdoor feed from Parham. Following a defensive stop, junior Jake Stephens hit one of two three throws to make the score 73-70. Hunter was fouled on the other end shooting a trey and sunk all three free-throws with 9.1 seconds left to re-tie the game. Following a timeout, Keydet freshman Trey Bonham drew a foul while driving to the hoop with 3.1 seconds left and made the first of two from the charity stripe. His second free throw bounced off the rim and Furman couldn't connect on a desperation heave from midcourt.  

Parham has five-straight 20-point games and has scored in double figures 14 times in 15 contests. Stephens compiled 15 points, 14 rebounds and two blocked shots for his fourth double-double of the season and the fifth of his career. Sean Conway hit 4-of-6 three pointers for 12 points and Bonham scored 13 points. Kamdyn Curfman had six points and five rebounds. VMI 8-1 is now at home, their best home record since 2013-14. VMI nailed 11-of-25 three pointers (44%) and has hit 10 or more threes in 11 games this year. VMI snapped a 10-game losing streak against Furman.

Jalen Slawson had a big night for Furman (10-4/4-1 SoCon) with 18 points, 14 rebounds and five steals. Mike Bothwell scored 14 points and Noah Gurley had 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Hunter finished with nine points, six in the final minute, and seven assists. The Keydets held Furman to just 37 percent (27-73) shooting overall and 31 percent (12-39) from three-point range, but the Paladins snared 18 offensive rebounds. Slawson had another double-double last season in Cameron Hall with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
 
VMI (8-7/3-3 SoCon) travels to Mercer University (Ga.) Saturday for another SoCon game at 2 p.m.

Quotes from head coach Dan Earl:
"It was fun. It wasn't like we drew it up late game when we fouled a 3-point shooter. But a variety of guys got in and affected the game positively. The Myles Lewis layup that got called for goaltending was huge. Greg Parham was tremendous in the second half with 22 points. A guy like DJ Nussbaum got in the game and gave us some valuable minutes and big rebounds. On the last possession, Trey Bonham was able to go downhill and force the officials to maybe make a call and they did. That was good not settling for the jumper and to get to the line with the double bonus."
 
"They were hammering us on the boards. We were almost praying we would be able to get some defensive rebounds. We got some late. They didn't shoot a great percentage from three and I'd like to think it was somewhat our defense, but they had some open looks, so maybe it was a little bit of the basketball gods evening it out after ETSU shot unbelievable from three last game and Furman missed some shots today. I'm proud of the guys fighting and pulling this one out."