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Men's Basketball

Keydets Tangle with Samford Saturday at Home

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LEADING OFF - VMI basketball will open up a two-game homestand starting Saturday afternoon when it takes on the Samford Bulldogs at Cameron Hall with tipoff set at 1 pm. The Keydets (10-10, 5-6 SoCon) will be looking to rebound from Wednesday night's 74-72 setback at Western Carolina which dropped the Keydets into a tie with Mercer for sixth place in the SoCon standings. Samford (6-10, 2-7) enters Saturday after having dropped a pair of overtime games with Mercer this week. The Bulldogs and Keydets met previously this season in Birmingham, Alabama with Samford posting an 84-71 win over the Keydets in the SoCon opener on December 30.  VMI senior guard Greg Parham enters this weekend needing just eight points to become the 42nd player in VMI history to score 1,000 career points. Parham currently ranks second in the SoCon in scoring (18.9) and 3-point percentage (47.5%) and has produced ten 20+ point games this season and eight over the last ten contests. Junior center Jake Stephens, the reigning SoCon Player of the Week, scored 17 points against Western Carolina Wednesday night and has scored in double figures in ten straight games while averaging 18.6 points and 8.2 rebounds over that stretch and was named SoCon Player of the Week on Tuesday. 
 
LAST TIME OUT – Sophomore forward Xavier Cork scored 23 points and grabbed five rebounds to help lead Western Carolina to a 74-72 win over VMI Wednesday night at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, North Carolina. VMI (10-10, 5-6) which led 34-32 at halftime, fell for only the second time in 10 games after leading at the break. VMI placed five in double figures for the second straight game as Jake Stephens and Kamdyn Curfman led the way with 17 points apiece. Greg Parham finished with 12 points while Trey Bonham and Sean Conway ended the contest with 11 and 10 points, respectively. The game turned midway in the second half when VMI led 55-50 after a Myles Lewis layup with 8:46 left. The Catamounts responded with seven straight points to retake the lead and outscored VMI 14-4 over the next four minutes and led 64-59 following Cory Hightower's layup at the 4:30 mark. VMI tied the game at 66-66 with 1:32 remaining after Parham converted a layup but Xavier Cork responded with a jumper with 1:20 to put the Catamounts on top for good and Faulkner pushed in a jumper to make it 70-66 with 0:43 left. Curfman drilled his fifth 3-pointer with 0:39 on the clock to pull the Keydets within 70-69 but that would be as close as they would get. The Keydets shot 31.3 percent in the first 20 minutes but hit 58.1 percent from the floor in the second. VMI, however, was outscored 44-26 in points in the paint and converted a season-low 4 of 9 from the free throw line for 44.4%. Conway logged his third career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
 
LAST MEETING WITH SAMFORD – December 30, 2020 - The VMI basketball team rallied in the second half but came up short as host Samford finished with an 84-71 victory at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Alabama. The Keydets kept the game close in the opening half before the Bulldogs closed the stanza on a 25-10 run to go into the break with a commanding 56-37 lead. Samford shot 63 percent in the first 20 minutes but just 24 percent in the second to allow the Keydets to climb back into contention. VMI pulled the game to within five points at 69-64 following a Myles Lewis breakaway dunk as the Keydets scored 11 unanswered points. The Bulldogs responded with their own 8-0 run to put the game away in the final minutes. VMI freshman and Alabama native Trey Bonham finished the game with a career-high 15 points. Senior Greg Parham led the Keydets with 18 points while sophomore Kamdyn Curfman ended up with 17. Samford led the game in bench scoring 39-18 and points in the paint by a 40-24 margin. AJ Staton-McCray and Preston Parks led the way for the Bulldogs with 15 points apiece while Myron Gordon had 14 and Richardson Maitre logged 12.
 
A win over Samford would:
---Move VMI to 10-1 at home
---Give the Keydets their sixth conference win – most since 2014-15
 
VMI vs. Samford
This will be 19th meeting between the schools that first met in 1967. Samford leads the series 15-3 and has taken the last 12 of the last 13 in the rivalry. VMI's last win over the Bulldogs came last year, 96-78, in the first round of the 2020 SoCon Tournament.
 
PARHAM CLOSES IN MILESTONE – Senior guard Greg Parham enters Saturday's game needing eight points to reach 1,000 career points and become to 42nd player in VMI program history to reach that mark. Parham in January assembled a string of seven straight 20+ points games that was halted Jan. 30 with a season-low four points at UNCG, ending a torrid scoring streak. But the Richmond native was back at it against Wofford Feb. 3 with 22 points in the overtime win giving him ten 20-point games on the year. The last Keydet to string together seven straight 20+ games prior to Parham's recent run was Reggie Williams in 2007-08. Parham still leads the SoCon in scoring in league games with a 21.5 PPG average and also tops the SoCon in 3-point percentage with a 47.5% mark. Parham also earned the first SoCon player of the month basketball honor for the Keydets since November 2015 by averaging 23.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game in eight January contests, and was named SoCon Player of the Week for consecutive weeks in late January becoming the first Keydet since Jayson Bell in 1997-98 to earn SoCon POTW in consecutive weeks.
 
STEPHENS CONTINUES TO ROLL – Junior center Jake Stephens has been a steady presence in the recent Keydet basketball success and has averaged 18.6 points and 8.2 rebounds over his last ten games. On Tuesday, Stevens was named SoCon Player of the week after a 22-point, nine rebounds against Wofford Feb. 3. Stephens has four double-doubles on the season, most recently on January 20 in the win against Furman with 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Earlier in January, Stephens scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the 110-103 victory over The Citadel January 16. Stephens is currently ranked fifth in the SoCon in rebounds (7.6), is third in blocks (1.8) and third in free throw shooting at 83.3%.
 
LONG RANGE ACCURACY – Through games of February 10, VMI leads the SoCon in three-point percentage (39.1%) and is second in 3FG made per game (11.0) which is third in Division I. The Keydets have drained 10 or more threes in 14 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 February 10, VMI is second in the SoCon in free throw shooting percentage converting at an 78.2% success rate which ranks 16th in the nation.
 
KEYDETS SURPASS WIN TOTAL OF LAST YEAR – With its tenth win of the year on Feb. 3 (84-80 OT vs. Wofford), VMI in 19 games surpassed its win total of nine all last season. The Keydets entered the second week of February with a 10-9 mark (now 10-10) – the first time it has entered the final month of the regular season with a .500 or better record since the 2013-14 season. The Keydets have also surpassed last year's conference win mark with five league victories in the books this season after winning three last year. The five SoCon wins are the most since the 2014-15 season when VMI posted seven league wins.
 
LEWIS BACK IN FORM – Senior forward Myles Lewis has hit his stride as the season moves into February and is averaged 11.3 points and 6.8 rebounds over a four-game stretch also scoring in double figures in all those contests. He also returned to the starting lineup in the win over Wofford February 3 and is currently ranked second on the Keydets in rebounding averaging 6.8 per game which ranks sixth in the SoCon.
 
CURFMAN EXPANDS IMPACT – VMI sophomore guard Kamdyn Curfman posted a season-high 17 points for the fifth time this season against Western Carolina Wednesday and also matched his career-best with five 3-pointers against the Catamounts. Curfman has also established himself as one of the best 3-point shooters in the SoCon and has connected on five 3FG in four games this season and seven for his career. Through 20 games, Curfman is hitting 41.5% in 3-point shooting which ranks fourth in the SoCon. 
 
CONWAY DOUBLES UP AGAIN – Sophomore guard Sean Conway produced his second double-double of the season (third career) with 10 points and 10 rebounds at Western Carolina February 10. He also experienced a career day in VMI's 110-103 win over The Citadel Jan. 16 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 28 rebounds over the past three games.
 
BONHAM SPARKS LINEUP – Freshman point guard Trey Bonham scored a season and career high 20 points against Wofford Jan. 13 in his first start of the year and averaged 11.7 points in seven starts. Bonham, who dished out a season and career-high seven assists against Western Carolina January 27, now has 12 double-figures games on the year. 
 
NOTEWORTHY –VMI has knocked off two residing SoCon teams this season (Furman and Wofford) after trailing at the half in both games…the 9-1 home start is the best home record to start a season since 2013-14 …the Keydets are 9-0 this season when leading with five minutes in regulation and the Feb. 3 Wofford win was the first victory after trailing with 5:00 left in regulation…VMI is 10-5 when it scores more than 71 points and 0-5 when it scores 71 or fewer points…the Keydets are 7-0 when shooting 50% or better from the floor.
 
EARL GETS #50 – The 84-79 win over Chattanooga January 2 marked the 50th win at VMI for head basketball coach Dan Earl.
 
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

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

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