VMI hits 14 threes, late rally falls short
The Mercer Bears withstood an early VMI three-point barrage and late rally to post a 73-58 win over the Keydets Thursday night at Hawkins Arena in Southern Conference basketball action.
The Keydets drained 14 treys for the game including 10 in the first half. Junior guard Julian Eleby led VMI in scoring with 15 points while junior guard Q.J. Peterson, despite being held scoreless in the second half, posted his second double-double of the year with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Mercer moved to 9-0 at home and broke a two-game skid to raise its overall mark to 15-6, 5-3 SoCon. VMI fell to 6-13, 1-7 SoCon.
The Bears were paced by guard Jestin Lewis who hit 7 of 11 shots from the floor and all six free throws to lead all scorers with 22 points. Stephon Jelks added 14 points for the Bears.
Mercer held a 37-28 rebounding advantage and outscored the Keydets 32-12 in the paint. The Bears also capitalized on 15 VMI turnovers and converted them into 20 points.
The Bears went to the free throw line for 32 attempts and connected on 19 tries. VMI, which didn’t attempt its first free throw until the 17:47 mark of the second half, was 2 for 4 from the stripe.
Senior guard Tim Marshall scored 14 points including four 3-pointers and junior forward Trey Chapman added 11 points and four rebounds for the Keydets. All five VMI starters scored including four in double figures, but the bench did not contribute a point.
Mercer built a pair of 14-point leads in the second half – the second coming at the 4:37 mark when Lewis canned a jumper to give the Bears a 62-48 lead. VMI quickly countered with a Marshall 3-pointer, a Phillip Anglade layup, and a steal and layup by Chapman to pull within 62-55 with 2:39 left.
Mercer then missed a string of seven consecutive free throws to leave the door open and the Keydets cut it to 64-58 when Marshall drained a 3-pointer from the right corner with 1:30 left. Mercer then regained its rhythm from the foul line converting its last eight free throw attempts over the last :49 of regulation to put the game away.
VMI, behind Peterson and Eleby, started the game with torrid outside shooting and built a 19-8 lead at the 13:27 mark of the opening half following a Peterson 3-pointer. Mercer countered with a 19-6 run to regain the lead, 27-25, only to see the Keydets reel off nine straight points behind bombs by Eleby, Marshall, and Chapman. The Keydets trailed 36-34 at the break.
VMI was limited to 28.1% shooting from the floor in the second half after firing at 52.2% from the field in the first half. After hitting 10 of 18 from beyond the arc in the opening half, the Keydets were 4 of 19 after intermission. The 14 treys tied a season-high set early against Central Penn on December 2.
The Keydets posted 16 assists against the Bears –its most against a Division I opponent this season.
VMI travels to The Citadel Saturday to face the Bulldogs and former Keydet head coach Duggar Baucom. Tipoff at McAlister Field House in Charleston is 1 p.m.
Quotes: VMI coach Dan Earl
“I was proud of the guys for fighting. Certainly at halftime, we were right there. We had a little bit of a lull late in the first half. In the rebounding war, they kind of took over in the second half. But we continued to fight in the second half and we had a steal that could have cut it to four late with over a minute left. We’re trying to get to the free throw line more, but obviously we weren’t able to get there enough, so it’s tough. I told our guys to keep our heads up and keep getting better and we have another one Saturday.”
“Mercer mixes defenses very well. They plan man, they play 2-3, but it looks a little different . We were able to make some 3’s in the first half and when we were making them, that’s great, but we have to figure out how to get to the line more. That is getting the ball inside more, driving it, and making the right decision. We did have 16 assists which is better than it has been, but we also had 15 turnovers. We battled hard but came up short.”
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