Sophomore Jake Stephens poured in a career-high 24 points including six 3-pointers to lead VMI to a 96-78 win over Samford in the first round of the 2020 Ingles SoCon Tournament.
VMI (9-23) snapped an 11-game losing skid to Samford (10-23) thanks to a season-high 18 made three-pointers, including a 6-of-7 shooting performance beyond the arc from Stephens.
The 18 threes matched the season best hit earlier against Stetson on Dec. 7 at Cameron Hall.
The Keydets never trailed in this one, going 11-of-20 beyond the arc in the first half to go into the break up 52-30, and leading by as many as 34.
VMI will face top-seeded ETSU (27-4) Saturday at noon.
The Keydets placed five in double-figures scoring and also received 16 points from junior Greg Parham.
Freshman guard Travis Evee added 16 points while freshman guard Kamdyn Curfman and junior forward Myles Lewis added 14 and 13 points, respectively.
VMI senior forward Garrett Gilkeson dished out a team high seven assists and with eight rebounds helped the Keydets amass a 44-39 advantage on the boards.
The Keydets also handed out 23 assists on the night, second most in a game this season.
Samford redshirt senior Brandon Austin paced the Bulldogs with 20 points while guard Josh Sharkey closed out his college career with 19 points and 10 assists.
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