bradley, yildizoglu, clark, coach harrison
70
Winner Mercer Mercer 9-6,2-0 SoCon
67
VMI VMI 6-9,0-2 SoCon
Winner
Mercer Mercer
9-6,2-0 SoCon
70
Final
67
VMI VMI
6-9,0-2 SoCon
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Mercer Mercer 34 36 70
VMI VMI 26 41 67

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Keydets fall late to Mercer in SoCon home opener

LEXINGTON, Va. – VMI junior guard Rickey Bradley, Jr. logged a new career-high 30 points but VMI fell to Mercer in the closing minutes as the Bears escaped Cameron Hall with a 70-67 win over the Keydets Saturday evening in VMI's SoCon home opener in Lexington.
 
With the loss, the Keydets fall to 6-9 on the year and 0-2 in Southern Conference play while Mercer improves to 9-6 and 2-0 in league action.
 
The Keydets trailed by as many as 17 points at the 16:29 mark of the second half but made a furious rally to tie the game at 53-53 with 9:17 left to play. Sophomore AJ Clark made a layup to pull VMI ahead and followed up with a steal and a dunk to put VMI up four, 57-53, to force a Mercer timeout to regroup.
 

 
VMI led by as many as six with 6:29 to play after a Tan Yildizoglu layup, but the Bears kept pace and tied the game at 63-all with 3:03 left in regulation.  Both teams exchanged buckets and free throws in the closing minutes but Mercer made just enough plays to pull away for the three-point victory.
 

 
Key Stats
*Bradley's 30 points tops his prior career-high of 26 points earned in the game at Richmond back on Dec. 21. He tied his career-high five three-pointers made previously his freshman year at Fordham on Dec. 22, 2022
*Clark earned his first career double-double by recording 12 points to go with 12 rebounds on the night
*Mercer's Jah Nze registered 25 points to lead the Bears as he also tallied five threes during the contest.
*Alex Holt and Ahmad Robinson also recorded doubles figures for the Bears (11 pts each), while the Keydets limited one of the SoCon's leading scorers, Tyler Johnson, to just nine points during the game
*The close contest featured six lead changes and four ties throughout
*Both teams finished with nine three-pointers during the contest
 
Up Next
The Keydets hit the road for a pair of SoCon contests next week as they will face Samford Thursday night in Birmingham, Alabama, before taking on Chattanooga next Saturday afternoon.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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