Kamdyn Curfman at SoCon Semifinals vs Mercer 2
Todd Drexler/SESPORTSMEDIA.com

Men's Basketball

VMI Starts Four-Game Road Swing at Marist

LEXINGTON, Va. – VMI Basketball starts its longest road trip of the season as it commences on a four-game trip that begins Saturday afternoon against Marist College. Tipoff will be 5 pm. After playing the Red Foxes, VMI will head to New Orleans Thanksgiving week for a three-game multi-team event hosted by the University of New Orleans. VMI will take on Presbyterian next Wednesday in a rematch of a game played Nov. 12, then Central Arkansas, and New Orleans in the following days of the event.  

LAST TIME OUT – VMI opened a big early lead Tuesday evening over visiting Keystone College (Pa.) and never looked back in a 97-35 non-conference victory from Cameron Hall. The Keydets took advantage of a balanced scoring attack, with 11 players getting on the scoreboard and nine posting six or more points. Junior guard Kamdyn Curfman drilled four three-pointers in the first seven minutes of play, including three in a two-minute span, as VMI opened a 25-7 edge. The Keydets led 53-14 at intermission. Curfman finished with five treys and tied for a game-high 17 points in just 14 minutes on the court. Senior forward Connor Arnold nailed five three pointers and also finished with a career-high 17 points to go along with five rebounds. Cooper Sisco scored 10 points and Tanner Mans compiled nine points, seven assists and five rebounds. VMI had 26 assists on 38 made baskets and shot 51 percent (38-75) for the game, including a 43 percent (18-42) mark from three-point range. Keystone freshman guard  Jack Anderson scored 11 of his team-high 13 points in the second half and Shane Rosencrans had five points. 

LAST MEETING WITH MARIST – November 8, 2019 - Michael Cubbage converted a driving layup in traffic to give visiting Marist University a 58-56 victory over VMI at Cameron Hall. The Keydets nearly won their 2019-20 home opener in thrilling fashion, but Garrett Gilkeson's three-pointer from just over mid-court grazed off the rim. VMI led by as many as 13 in the first half, and held a 38-29 lead at halftime. Sophomore center Jake Stephens paced the Keydets with 10 points in the first 20 minutes to go along with five rebounds. The Keydets held a 52-44 edge with 11:02 left on the game clock, but scored just four points, both jumpers from junior Myles Lewis, the remainder of the way. Marist tied the game 54 all with 4:20 left, and Lewis gave the Keydets a 56-54 advantage at the 2:48 mark. Cubbage hit a jump shot with 55 ticks left to tie the game to lead to his game winner. The Red Foxes held VMI to just 27 percent (7-26) shooting after intermission and 13 percent (2-15) from three-point range. Stephens finished with a team-high 12 points and tied for the team-best with eight boards. Lewis had 11 points, and freshman Kamdyn Curfman drilled three three-pointers for nine points. Cubbage scored a game-high 19 points for the Red Foxes.

A WIN OVER MARIST WOULD ...
--- Give VMI its first road win of the season.     
--- Even the series with Marist at 2-2. 

VMI vs. Marist College
Saturday's game at Mercer will be the fourth meeting between the schools. Marist won the first meeting on February 23, 2013 in Poughkeepsie, 112-77 as part of the now defunct ESPN Bracketbusters event and the Keydets prevailed on December 13, 2014 at Cameron Hall, 92-77. The Red Foxes won the last meeting between the schools in 2019-20, 58-56 in Lexington to take a 2-1 lead in the series. 

TANG RETURNS TO ACTION – Junior guard Louis Tang returned to action Tuesday night against Keystone after nearly a year layoff rehabbing from a knee injury sustained against Longwood on December 1, 2020. In 15:30 of action in his 2021-22 debut, Tang scored six points, grabbed five rebounds and handed out three assists.

VMI ADDS TWO IN EARLY SIGNING PERIOD - Virginia Military Institute has announced the signings of 6-8 forward Tyler Houser and 6-4 guard Chance Thacker to National Letters of Intent in the November early signing period. Houser averaged 14 points and eight rebounds last year for Cedar Cliff High School in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. He earned Mid-Penn Big 15 All-Star honors twice and produced a 19-point performance in Cedar Cliff's District 3 playoff upset of Cumberland Valley. Houser also played for Central PA Elite AAU club team. Thacker attends Providence Christian Academy in Lilburn, Georgian in the Atlanta metro area. He averaged 18 points, seven rebounds, and four assists and earned First team Preseason All-State and Gwinnett All-County by the Atlanta Tip-Off Club. A 1,000-point scorer, Thacker was also a member of the First Team All-Region squad and helped his school to a single season record of 24 wins. He was a member of the Atlanta All-Stars club team and was a standout at the GHSA Live Period event averaging 16.0 points on a squad that went a perfect 4-0.

MORE LONG-RANGE ACCURACY – VMI hit 22 three-pointers in the 111-55 win season opening win over Carlow November 9 continuing the prolific perimeter shooting of the past two seasons. The 22 makes from beyond the arc were two away from the school record of 24 set against Southern Virginia in 2008-09. VMI in 2020-21 ranked second in the nation in 3-pointers made per game for the second straight year and averaged 10.8 per game ranking only behind Oral Roberts with 11.1 per contest.  The Keydets drained 10 or more threes in 17 games last 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. In 2019-20, VMI also ranked second in Division I in three-pointers made in 2019-20 averaging 10.9 per game, second only to North Florida. VMI hit 18 three-pointers against Samford in the opening round of the 2020 SoCon tournament March 6 and for the season connected on 359 threes – third most on the school all-time list.




 
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Players Mentioned

Myles Lewis

#15 Myles Lewis

G
6' 5"
Senior
Connor Arnold

#21 Connor Arnold

F
6' 7"
Senior
Kamdyn Curfman

#10 Kamdyn Curfman

G
6' 1"
Junior
Tanner Mans

#24 Tanner Mans

G
6' 6"
Sophomore
Jake Stephens

#34 Jake Stephens

C
6' 11"
Senior
Louis Tang

#0 Louis Tang

G
6' 4"
Junior
Cooper Sisco

#15 Cooper Sisco

G
6' 5"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Myles Lewis

#15 Myles Lewis

6' 5"
Senior
G
Connor Arnold

#21 Connor Arnold

6' 7"
Senior
F
Kamdyn Curfman

#10 Kamdyn Curfman

6' 1"
Junior
G
Tanner Mans

#24 Tanner Mans

6' 6"
Sophomore
G
Jake Stephens

#34 Jake Stephens

6' 11"
Senior
C
Louis Tang

#0 Louis Tang

6' 4"
Junior
G
Cooper Sisco

#15 Cooper Sisco

6' 5"
Freshman
G