Conway and Stephens
Randall K. Wolf
79
Mercer Mercer 13-13,6-7 SoCon
85
Winner VMI VMI 15-10,8-5 SoCon
Mercer Mercer
13-13,6-7 SoCon
79
Final
85
VMI VMI
15-10,8-5 SoCon
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Mercer Mercer 34 45 79
VMI VMI 40 45 85

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

VMI Basketball Takes Fourth Straight, 85-79, over Mercer

Box Score

LEXINGTON, Va. – Behind game-highs of 27 points and 10 rebounds from senior center Jake Stephens, the VMI men's basketball team extended its winning streak to four games Thursday evening with an 85-79 victory over visiting Mercer University (Ga.) in a Southern Conference game from Cameron Hall. The last time the Keydets won four-straight conference games was in 2013-14, their final year in the Big South Conference.

Stephens connected on 7-of-11 field goal attempts, including 4-6 behind the three-point arc to notch his 13th 20-point game this season to go along with his ninth double double. He added five assists on the night.

Trey Bonham scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half and added six rebounds and five assists. Kamdyn Curfman battled first-half foul trouble but scored 13 points, hitting 4-8 three-point attempts. Tanner Mans scored nine and Sean Conway contributed eight points and five rebounds.

VMI led 40-34 at intermission and held the lead the entire second half, although the visitors cut the edge to just two on two different occasions. The Keydets forged a 75-69 lead with just over a minute to play and Stephens took advantage of a switch to nail his fourth trey and put the game out of reach.   

Shawn Walker, Jr. led Mercer (13-13/6-7 SoCon) with 18 points while James Glissoon III nailed five three pointers for 17 points. Felipe Haase posted a double double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Jalen Johnson had 10 points and seven boards.  

VMI is now 9-2 at home on the year and the Keydets have won 20 of the last 23 games in Cameron Hall. 

The Keydets (15-10/8-5) will complete their three-game SoCon home stand Saturday at 3:30 p.m. against The Citadel. It is VMI's Red Out game - any fans wearing a red shirt or top will be admitted into the game for free.

Quotes from head coach Dan Earl:

"I'm super proud of our guys because we didn't play great but we did enough to win. We have to clean up some things but we're doing a lot of good things."
 
"I don't know if Jake Stephens was exceptional tonight by his standards but he had 27 and 10 and played a very good game certainly. Trey (Bonham) had a very good second half and we had everyone chip in. Sean Conway and Honor (Huff) made some big baskets and Kamdyn Curfman hit some threes. We made 15 threes so we must be doing something well."
 
"I did think we did do a better job on their shooters (than the first game) but they played well and made it a tough game."
 
Print Friendly Version