Presbyterian poured in 18 three-pointers and shot 62.7% from the floor in posting a 103-70 win over visiting VMI in non-conference action Wednesday night at Templeton Center.
PC guard JC Younger led the Blue Hose with 30 points and hit 9 of 11 shots from beyond the arc to tie a school Division I record.
Presbyterian also got double figures scoring from guard Adam Flagler who knocked in a trio of three-pointers and was a perfect 10 of 10 from the stripe to finish with 25 points. Forward Francois Lewis added 11 points for the hosts, who evened their season mark to 5-5.
“We have to go back to the drawing board and figure things out. We have to get better and learn from it,” VMI coach Dan Earl said.
VMI (5-7) was led by guard Bubba Parham who scored 26 points including five three-pointers. Entering the game as the SoCon leading scorer, Parham canned 10 of 15 shots from the floor in posting his 13th career 20-point+ game.
Garrett Gilkeson scored 14 points and forward Tyler Creamer added 12 points for the Keydets.
The Keydets dominated the first five minutes of the game racing to a 17-5 lead by the first media timeout. The Keydets converted six of their first eight shots from the field while the Blue Hose missed seven of their first nine tries from the floor.
By the second media timeout, the game had changed abruptly as Presbyterian unleashed a three-point barrage that quickly turned the tables in favor of the home team. Young started a 23-3 Presbyterian spurt with a three-pointer at the 14:09 mark and followed soon after with three free throws to push PC ahead for good, 21-20. The Blue Hose scored 11 straight points later in the first half to help build 54-23 halftime lead.
The Keydets could not get the margin under 20 points at any point in the second half as PC connected on eight of 10 attempts from three-point range after halftime to put the game away.
“I don’t think we did a good job of handling adversity,” Earl said. “We missed a few layups after we went up early and it just kind of took the wind out of our sails. Unfortunately, it’s college basketball, it’s tough. If the layup doesn’t fall, you have to get a stop on defense or make the next play. I really didn’t think we responded to that. Credit Presbyterian. They made a bunch of shots. It’s about adjustments – everybody watching the game could see that they are making shots, so you have to do something about it. You have to close out harder, you have to get your hands up. Unfortunately, I don’t think we did a great job of that.”
VMI will break for exams and return to action Dec. 21 against North Alabama at Cameron Hall.
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