Myles Lewis vs Samford 3
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Men's Basketball

Keydets Head to Charleston to Face The Citadel

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LEADING OFF – Fresh off a two-game home winning streak, VMI basketball travels to Charleston Saturday to face conference military college rival The Citadel Saturday at McAlister Field House. Tipoff will be 1 pm. VMI enters the game 12-10, 7-6 SoCon after knocking off first place UNCG, 88-77, Wednesday night at Cameron Hall, ending a nine-game skid against the Spartans. It was the third time this season VMI has knocked off a residing first place SoCon team with Furman and Wofford falling to the Keydets earlier this season. VMI raised its home record to 11-1, the most Cameron Hall wins in a season since 2013-14 and matched its conference win total of seven set in 2014-15. In the first meeting between VMI and The Citadel January 16 at Cameron Hall, VMI prevailed 110-103 setting a season-high in points. Saturday's game features two of the top 3-point shooting teams in the conference and nation as both VMI and The Citadel average 11.3 three-pointers per game. VMI continues a busy stretch of the season into the final week of the regular 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 against ETSU and the season finale at Chattanooga Saturday, February 27.
 
LAST TIME OUT –  The VMI basketball team hit 14 threes and dished out 21 assists Wednesday night to upset the first-place Spartans 88-77 in a Southern Conference contest from Cameron Hall. The Keydet defense harassed UNCG into shooting just 7-33 (21%) from three-point range for the game, including a 1-14 (7%) mark in the first half. In comparison, VMI drilled 14-of-29 (48%) from distance to improve to 11-1 at home. VMI defeated a residing SoCon first place team for the third time this season. The Keydets (12-10/7-6) matched their most conference wins since the 2014-15 campaign with four conference games remaining on the schedule. VMI started the second-half strong, pushing a 43-40 halftime edge to a 64-48 advantage at the 11:42 mark after a 21-8 run. The Spartans could get no closer than seven points the rest of the way. Senior Greg Parham delivered a game-high 25 points, including 16 in the second half, to go with a season-high nine assists. It was his 11th 20-point game this season. Sophomore Kamdyn Curfman nailed five three-pointers for the sixth time this season and finished with 20 points to tie his career-high. Senior Myles Lewis had his fifth career double-double with 14 points, a game-high 10 rebounds and two blocks. Isaiah Miller had 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals for UNCG (15-7/10-4 SoCon). UNCG had won nine-straight contests against VMI, the last Keydet win coming in the 2015-16 season.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE CITADEL – 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 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.
 
A win over The Citadel would:
---Give VMI their fifth straight win over the Bulldogs
---Give the Keydets their eighth conference win – their most since 2013-14 (Big South) and most SoCon wins in a season since 1998-99 (9). 
 
VMI vs. The Citadel
This will be the 116th meeting between the teams that first met in 1921. The Citadel leads the series, 58-57, but the Keydets have claimed the last four meetings including the regular season series last year, 88-79 in Lexington, and 75-64 in Charleston, and the first meeting this season, 110-103, in Lexington on January 16.
 
PARHAM HITS IN MILESTONE – With eight points against Samford February 13, 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 currently has 1,025 career points. He still leads the SoCon in scoring in league games with a 20.8 PPG average and also tops the SoCon in 3-point percentage with a 45.9% 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, and followed with 25 points against UNCG Feb. 17 giving him eleven 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 17.8 points and 8.0 rebounds over his last 12 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 fourth in the SoCon in rebounding (7.5), is third in blocks (1.6) and fifth in free throw shooting at 81.1%.
 
CURFMAN MATCHES CAREER BEST – VMI sophomore guard Kamdyn Curfman matched his career scoring high with 20 points in the win over UNCG Wednesday night and hit five three pointers for the third consecutive game, sixth time on the season, and ninth for his career. Curfman has also established himself as one of the best 3-point shooters in the SoCon and through 22 games, Curfman is hitting 42.4% in 3-point shooting which ranks third in the SoCon. 
 
LONG RANGE ACCURACY – Through games of February 17, VMI leads the SoCon in three-point percentage (39.5%) and is tied for first in 3FG made per game (11.3) which is second in Division I. The Keydets have drained 10 or more threes in 16 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.
 
STRONG FROM THE STRIPE - Through games of February 17, VMI is second in the SoCon in free throw shooting percentage converting at an 77.3% success rate which ranks 22nd 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 12-10) – 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 seven league victories in the books this season after winning three last year. The seven SoCon wins are the most since the 2014-15 season when VMI posted seven league wins.
 
LEWIS BACK IN FORM – Senior forward Myles Lewis posted his fourth double-double of the season after a 14-point, 10 rebound effort in the win vs. UNCG Wednesday. 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 fifth on the SoCon. He also pulled down 10 rebounds against Samford February 13 and now has six games 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 44 rebounds over the past four games and also ranks fourth in the SoCon in 3FG percentage at 42.3%.
 
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 three residing SoCon teams this season (Furman, Wofford, UNCG) …the 11-1 home start is the best home record to start a season since 2013-14 …the Keydets are 11-0 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 12-5 when it scores more than 71 points and 0-5 when it scores 71 or fewer points…the Keydets are 8-0 when shooting 50% or better from the floor.
 
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.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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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