SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The VMI men's basketball team dropped an overtime heartbreaker Wednesday evening at Wofford College 87-85 in a Southern Conference game.
The Keydets trailed by four in overtime but rallied to tie in the final minute after back-to-back baskets from
Tyran Cook and
DJ Nussbaum. With the game tied at 85, Wofford's Corey Tripp drove into the lane and converted a layup against a Keydet double team with 3.8 seconds on the game clock for the deciding basket.
VMI senior guard
Devin Butler scored a season-high 20 points, and his most against a Division I opponent in his career, and drilled a season-high four three pointers.
How it happened:
*VMI rode a strong defensive effort early to forge a 29-15 lead with five minutes to play in the first half. The Terriers closed the half with a 6-0 run to climb within four at 37-33.
*Wofford held a six-point edge late the second half but the Keydets would rally, and tied the game at 77 after a layup from
Brennan Watkins. The score remained the same the final 46 seconds to force overtime.
Inside the box score:
*Watkins came on strong to tie his second-highest point output of the season with 24 after netting just six in opening half. The junior guard has six games with 20 or more points this year
*Nussbaum finished with 10 points and a season-high eight rebounds
*Cook finished with 12 points and
Taeshaud Jackson II posted nine points and six rebounds
*
AJ Clark contributed eight points, a season-best five rebounds and four assists
*VMI's last overtime game was an 87-85 victory against Wofford in the home finale of the 2002-23 season on Feb. 22
*Tripp finished with a career-high of 28 points for Wofford (8-6/1-0) with seven rebounds
Next Time:
*VMI is slated to host Mercer University Saturday at 1 p.m. in another SoCon game.
Quotes from head coach Andrew Wilson:
I'm very proud of our players & coaching staff. We have dealt with a great deal of adversity of late and we responded in a major way. We had the best week of practice all season leading up to this game so it's no accident we played well. If we continue to prepare with this level of togetherness, confidence, & determination things are going to fall our way.
