Furman tops VMI in SoCon opener

Senior guard Stephen Croone scored a game-high 22 points and junior forward Kris Acox added 15 points to lead Furman over VMI, 85-57, Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.

The Paladins (7-7, 1-0) broke a three-game skid and ended VMI’s two-game win streak. It was the Southern Conference opener for both teams.

VMI was limited to 38.8% shooting for the afternoon and committed 19 turnovers which the hosts converted into 28 points. The Keydets (5-7, 0-1) generated just one assist in the first half and finished the game with a total mark of three in that stat category.

Junior guard Julian Eleby led the Keydets with 18 points on 6 of 8 shooting from the floor and hit all four free throw attempts to go along with six rebounds. Freshman guard Adrian Rich hit all four shots from the field to finish with a career-high 10 points. The rest of the VMI team combined 9 of 37 from the field shooting and the Keydets connected on 3 of 20 in 3-point attempts for the contest.

VMI junior guard and SoCon leading scored Q.J. Peterson was held to nine points and 3 of 10 shooting from the floor and did not have a 3-point goal.

Furman held a 36-26 advantage in points in the paint and drained 9 of 24 from the floor beyond the arc.

The game had two early ties and a lead change before Furman took control with a 13-0 run midway in the first half. After VMI forward Trey Champman converted one of two free throws to pull VMI within 12-9, Paladin sophomore Geoff Beans started the run with a 3-pointer at the 13:06 mark and a three-point play by sophomore guard Daniel Fowler capped the run with 10:21 left in the first half.

The Keydets sliced the deficit to single digits when Rich nailed a 3-pointer to make it 30-21 with 5:32 left in the half, but that would be as close as VMI would get the rest of the way as the Paladins assumed a 42-27 lead at the break.

Furman broke the game wide open with an 11-0 to open the second half fueled by transition buckets and led 53-27 when sophomore guard John Davis drained two free throws to extend the Paladin lead, 53-27, at the 17:20 mark. The Keydets tallied their first points of the second half with 16:17 left with a Rich free throw.

The Paladins led by as many as 30 points on three occasions in the second half and VMI could come no closer than 22 points (57-35) with 14:14 left when Peterson converted a jumper.

VMI resumes Southern Conference action Tuesday night when the Keydets entertain Wofford at Cameron Hall with tipoff slated for 7 pm