Tragen Fahl vs Samford
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Men's Basketball

Keydets Take on SoCon Leader UNCG Wednesday

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LEADING OFF - VMI basketball will close out a two-game homestand when it faces the SoCon first place UNCG Spartans Wednesday night at Cameron Hall. Due to the recent post closure, no spectators will be allowed for the contest. The Keydets enter the game (11-10, 6-6 SoCon) after topping Samford in Lexington, 85-56, Saturday afternoon. VMI now stands 10-1 at home this season, their most Cameron Hall wins in a campaign since 2013-14 when the Keydets won 14 home games. UNCG has won two straight and is 15-6, 10-3 SoCon after winning at Mercer, 77-74 Saturday. VMI on Wednesday night will get a third opportunity to knock off a SoCon residing first place team after defeating Furman and Wofford in earlier home contests this season.  VMI and UNCG met previously on January 30 at the Greensboro Coliseum with the Spartans prevailing 76-59. VMI enters a busy stretch of the season with four games slated over an eight-day span with road dates at The Citadel (Saturday) and Furman (Monday) followed by the season home finale Wednesday, February 24 against ETSU.
 
LAST TIME OUT – Senior guard Greg Parham became just the 42nd member of the VMI basketball team's 1,000-point club Saturday as the Keydets defeated visiting Samford 85-56 Saturday afternoon in a Southern Conference game. Parham entered the game with 992 career points and posted eight Saturday, reaching the mark with a three-pointer with 15:07 left in the second half. The Keydets closed the first half on a 19-8 run to take a 39-31 lead at the break. VMI scored the first seven points of the second half and held a double-digit lead the remainder of the contest. The 7-0 run was part of a larger 32-9 surge to put VMI ahead 71-40 with just over 12 minutes left. The Keydets held Samford to just 1-14 (7%) shooting from three-point range in the game's final 20 minutes. The 29-point win is the largest conference victory under head coach Dan Earl. VMI is 10-1 at home this season. Sophomore Sean Conway delivered 13 of his game-high 22 points after intermission. Junior Jake Stephens scored 14 points, hitting 12-of-14 free throws with five rebounds and four assists and Trey Bonham had identical totals of 14 points, five rebounds and four assists. Kamdyn Curfman nailed five three treys for the second-straight game, the fifth time this year, and eighth time in his career. Curfman finished with 17 points and four assists while Myles Lewis posted six points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Jaron Rillie led Samford (6-11/2-8 SoCon) with 11 points and seven rebounds. Jalen Dupree, Preston Parks and A.J. Staton-McCray each had eight.
 
LAST MEETING WITH UNCG – January 30, 2021 - Senior guard Isaiah Miller scored 25 points and the UNCG Spartans used a decisive second half scoring burst to power past VMI, 76-59, in Southern Conference basketball action at the Greensboro Coliseum. Miller, hit 11-of-21 shots and grabbed seven rebounds as the Spartans claimed their sixth straight win. The Spartans limited senior guard and VMI leading scorer Greg Parham to a season low four points on the night on just 2-of-9 shooting. The Keydets labored through a tough shooting outing going 36.2 percent from the floor (21-58) and 23.5% from 3-point range (8-34). Junior center Jake Stephens led VMI in scoring with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting and grabbed six rebounds. Senior guard Myles Lewis added 13 points and seven rebounds and hit double figures scoring for the third consecutive game. Sophomore guard Kamdyn Curfman nailed a trio of 3-pointers and finished with 11 points. The Keydets committed 20 turnovers – 13 in the second half – that UNCG converted into 21 points in the game. VMI trailed 38-31 at the break and pulled within 42-41 on a Parham layup with 12:39 left. UNCG quickly turned the tide by scoring 16 unanswered points and eventually went on a 19-3 run over the next 4:50 to break the game open.
 
A win over UNCG would:
---Move VMI to 11-1 at home
---Give the Keydets their seventh conference win – matching the total posted in 2014-15
 
VMI vs. UNCG
This will be the 29th meeting between the teams that first met in 1979. UNCG leads the series, 20-8, and has taken the last nine meetings. VMI last defeated the Spartans, 86-72, in Lexington on February 11, 2016.
 
PARHAM HITS IN MILESTONE – With eight points against Samford Saturday, senior guard Greg Parham became to 42nd player in VMI program history to reach 1,000 career points adding another highlight to a sensational senior season. Parham still leads the SoCon in scoring in league games with a 20.4 PPG average and also tops the SoCon in 3-point percentage with a 46.5% 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. 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.
 
STEPHENS CONTINUES TO ROLL – Junior center Jake Stephens has been a steady presence in the recent Keydet basketball success and has averaged 18.2 points and 7.9 rebounds over his last 11 games. On February 9, Stevens was named SoCon Player of the Week after a 22-point, nine rebound effort 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%.
 
CURFMAN EXPANDS IMPACT – VMI sophomore guard Kamdyn Curfman posted a season-high 17 points for the sixth time this season against Samford Saturday and also matched his career-best with five 3-pointers against the Bulldogs. Curfman has also established himself as one of the best 3-point shooters in the SoCon and has connected on five 3FG in five games this season and eight for his career. Through 21 games, Curfman is hitting 41.8% in 3-point shooting which ranks third in the SoCon. 
 
LONG RANGE ACCURACY – Through games of February 13, VMI leads the SoCon in three-point percentage (39.1%) and is second in 3FG made per game (11.2) which is third in Division I. The Keydets have drained 10 or more threes in 15 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 13, VMI is first in the SoCon in free throw shooting percentage converting at an 78.5% success rate which ranks 13th 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 11-10) – the first time it has gone this deep into 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 six league victories in the books this season after winning three last year. The six SoCon wins are the most since the 2014-15 season when VMI posted seven league wins.
 
LEWIS BACK IN FORM – Senior forward Myles Lewis continues to be a force on the boards and is currently ranked second on the Keydets in rebounding averaging 7.0 per game which places sixth on the SoCon. He pulled down 10 rebounds against Samford February 13 for his fifth game with 10+ rebounds this year.
 
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 36 rebounds over the past four 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 13 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 10-1 home start is the best home record to start a season since 2013-14 …the Keydets are 10-0 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 11-5 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