Senior center Jake Stephens scored 20 points and grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds to help VMI hold off a second half rally by The Citadel and post a 90-85 Southern Conference win Saturday at McAlister Field House.
The Keydet victory snapped a three-game skid and raised VMI’s record to 10-8, 3-3 in the league. VMI also won its fourth road game of the year for the first time since 2014-15.
VMI held the lead for 38:27 of regulation, but wasn’t able to put the game away until the final half minute of the contest.
Freshman guard John Roche hit three free throws to pull the hosts within 83-80 with 2:32 to play. Stephens then scored the next four points in the paint to give the Keydets some cushion heading into the final seconds of regulation.
Stephens’ driving layup after a called timeout made it 85-80 at the 1:22 mark and after getting a stop on the next Citadel possession on a missed Roche 3-pointer, VMI extended its lead as Stephens was credited with a tip-in on an offensive rebound kept alive by teammate Sean Conway and VMI led by seven with :36 left.
Conway and junior guard Kamdyn Curfman combined to hit three of four from the foul line over the final 16 seconds to secure VMI’s fifth win over their military rivals over the last six meetings.
Stephens, who also blocked four shots, labored through numerous double teams throughout the day and was joined in double figures scoring by sophomore guard Trey Bonham with a season-high 17 points giving him five double figures scoring games over his last six outings. Curfman and freshman guard Honor Huff each contributed 15 points as Huff returned to the starting lineup for the first time since late November.
The Citadel (7-8, 1-3 SoCon) was paced in scoring by Roche who had 22 points including five 3-pointers which gave him nine over his past two games. Junior guard Rudy Fitzgibbons provided 21 points off the bench for the Bulldogs while senior forward Stephen Clark scored 12 points and graduate guard Tyler Moffe added 11 points.
The Citadel graduate forward Hayden Brown, the SoCon preseason player of the year, scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds in the first half. He sustained an injury at the 12:29 mark of the opening half, returned briefly before halftime, but did not see action in the second half.
VMI, which entered the game as the nation’s leader in three-pointers per game, was held to 9-of-26 shooting beyond the arc – only the third time the Keydets did not reach 10+ threes this season. But VMI was able to convert 21 of 27 from the free throw line and held the advantage on the boards, 42-35. VMI, which scored 91 points in Thursday’s game at Mercer, hit the 90-point mark for the second straight game and fifth time this season.
The Keydets also got much needed bench scoring from freshman guard Cooper Sisco who scored eight points in 8+ minutes of action points including five points in the final 3:40 of regulation. It was the most game action Sisco had seen since November.
VMI built a pair of 13-point leads as late as the 4:47 mark only to see the Bulldogs claw back with a 14-6 run to trail 46-41 at the break.
The Bulldogs took their only lead after Jerry Higgins, III converted one of two free throws to make it 73-72 at the 5:40 mark of the second half only to see Huff execute a driving layup on the next possession to put VMI back on top. Curfman’s 3-pointer at the 4:45 mark broke a 75-75 tie and put VMI ahead for good.
The Keydets return home to open a two-game conference home stand next Thursday against Samford at Cameron Hall. Tipoff will be 7 pm.
Postgame: VMI coach Dan Earl
“I thought it was a hard-fought game like Citadel-VMI always is. I was scared it would come down to a last shot like the last two years did. We made really good plays down the stretch. I thought everyone impacted the game one way or another. Guys like Sean Conway tapping that ball in the last minute of play. We had been trying to get Cooper Sisco in a game for two weeks and he comes in and just plays outstanding. Super proud of the team on the whole. Credit The Citadel, they always make it difficult and certainly hope Hayden Brown is okay and gets back soon.
“I think the good start today was huge. We had been digging ourselves those holes in the beginning of the game and having to expend a lot of energy coming back and haven’t been able to close out at the end of games. Today we came out firing on all cylinders to start the game. Trey Bonham was outstanding at the start of the game and was getting downhill and all the way to the basket and that was opening up some things up for our shooters.”
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