Men’s basketball: VMI downs Frostburg State, 72-53

The VMI Keydets raced out to a 25-point halftime lead en route to a 72-53 win over the Frostburg State Bobcats in NCAA basketball action Tuesday at Cameron Hall in Lexington, Va.

VMI (3-7) raced out to a 10-point lead less than seven minutes into the game and was never truly challenged, as the Keydets led by as many as 31 in winning their second consecutive game.

The Keydet first-half defense was one of the stories of the game, as VMI limited FSU to a 6 of 30 (20%) effort in the first 20 minutes that led to a 15-point half, one shy of the lowest scoring half ever at Cameron Hall. FSU did recover and score 38 points in the second half, primarily against the VMI bench.

Frostburg State, who scheduled the game as an exhibition, remained at 1-8 and the year and was led by Edwin Cole, who had a game-high 17 points.

For the Keydets, QJ Peterson shot 7 of 10 from the floor to lead the Keydets with 15 points in just 21 minutes. Julian Eleby added 13 in 21 minutes and Trey Chapman chipped in 11.

The Keydets shot 30 of 63 (47.6%) for the game and 5 of 25 from three-point range (20%). VMI was 7 of 10 (70%) from the line. VMI won the rebounding battle by 11 as well, 42-31.

Frostburg State went 19 of 56 (33.9%) overall, 3 of 18 from long-range (16.7%) and 12 of 16 from the free throw line (75%). FSU shot 50% from the floor in the second half after hitting at a 20% rate in the first period.

VMI basketball will return to action Friday, when the Keydets take on the Dayton Flyers in a road game. Tip time is set for7 p.m.

 

Postgame: VMI Head Coach Dan Earl

“We won by a large margin tonight, and yet I didn’t like the way we closed out the game in the second half. It’s always a learning experience and our guys have to learn from it whether you win big or lose close, it’s got to be a learning experience.”

“I told our guys you have to execute regardless of what the opponent is doing. No one is going to tell the next opponent ‘don’t press us, don’t play 1-3-1, don’t do this, don’t do that,’ You have to be prepared for everything and have a sense of urgency all the time.”

“I thought defensively from the jump we were dialed in and in our defensive stance playing together. On the whole, I liked the way we played in the first half even when we didn’t hit our shots, we still played defense.”