VMI trailed by as many as 12 points midway through the second half Friday evening but rallied for a 76-69 victory over Western Carolina in a Southern Conference clash from Cameron Hall.
It is VMI’s third straight win and keeps the Keydets in the top four in the conference standings at 7-5 with six games to play.
The visiting Catamounts led 41-36 at halftime, forcing the Keydets into just 20 percent (4-20) shooting from three-point range and extended the advantage to 54-42 with 11:46 on the game clock. A 16-3 run over the next five minutes, fueled by seven points from freshman guard Honor Huff, put VMI ahead 58-57.
WCU again held the lead, 69-65 with 3:23 left, but the Keydet defense shutout the visitors for the remainder of the game. The contest was tied at 69 all with under a minute to play, and following a timeout, Kamdyn Curfman nailed a three-pointer and VMI iced the game from the free-throw line.
Senior center Jake Stephens scored a game-high 20 points with 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals. He has 12 20-point games this season along with eight double doubles. Trey Bonham had 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals and Huff had 17 points and six boards. Curfman connected on only 2-14 from deep, but both makes came in the final 7:12 of the game and marks 25-straight games with a made three-pointer, the longest active streak in the conference.
The Keydets are 8-2 at home this season and have won 19 of their last 22 games in Cameron Hall. It is VMI’s sixth win over the Catamounts over the last eight matchups.
Nick Robinson had a triple-double for Western Carolina (9-15/3-8) with 19 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, only the third in program history. Tyler Harris scored 18 and Joe Petrakis netted 17.
VMI (14-10) hosts Mercer University next Thursday at 7 p.m. as a part of a three-game SoCon home stand, with The Citadel coming to Lexington Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. tipoff.
Postgame: VMI coach Dan Earl
“That game was a nail biter to say the least, but good for us to battle and fight when things weren’t going our way. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out we did not shoot the ball well tonight at all but we made enough plays down the stretch and some big plays when we needed to. Hats off to Western Carolina. Our guys were fully aware that they are a good ball club. Certainly Nicholas Robinson did it all with the triple double. It was hard to stop them. They just played an outstanding game. I’m super proud of our guys for battling what was a tough shooting night.”
“Hats off to Kamdyn Curfman for hanging in there and hitting that three but we had a lot of guys affect the game. We’ve been challenging our guards to rebound the basketball and both Trey Bonham and Honor Huff each had six. Jake Stephens is such a good player because he takes what the game gives him. They were doubling him off the passer. And he’s an unselfish guy and passed it outside and make the right play. And he still finished with 20 rebounds and 12 rebounds.”
“It showed a lot about our character to come out with a win particularly on a night where we weren’t shooting the ball well against a team that is playing very well.”
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