BUIES
CREEK,
N.C. – VMI hit 19 three-point field goals and held off a late
rally Monday night to hand Campbell a 97-92 men's basketball defeat
at Gore Arena.
Travis Holmes and Keith
Gabriel led five VMI players in double digits with 22 points
apiece. Chavis Holmes added
20, while Michael Sparks finished with 14 and Austin Kenon
10.
Jonathan Rodriguez led
Campbell (2-2) with a game-high 23 points, plus 14 rebounds for his
30th career double-double.
Lorne Merthie scored 14 for the second-straight outing, while
William Kossangue added 10 – all in the second half on 5-of-8
shooting. Kyle Vejraska
chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Keydets (4-1), who opened
the year with a 111-103 win at Kentucky, built a 17-point lead
(87-70) with 7:29 remaining thanks to a 12-4 run. However, the Camels answered with a
22-6 run to pull within 93-92 on Kyle Vejraska's jumper with 54
seconds to play.
Campbell appeared to have the
defensive stop it needed as Travis Holmes lost possession of the
ball on the ensuing possession, but Chris Reynolds was called for a
foul as he dove for the loose ball and Holmes canned both free
throws.
Jabril Bailey missed a jumper
in the paint with 19 seconds to play; Chavis Holmes rebounded, then
Michael Sparks hit a wide-open layup at the other end for the final
margin.
VMI built a 50-37 half-time
lead by converting 17 Camel first-half miscues into a 19-2
advantage in points off turnovers. CU had just six turnovers in the final
half and scored 16 second-half points off Keydet
mistakes.
Campbell finished with a 64-22 edge on
points in the paint, but VMI outscored the Camels beyond the arc
57-6. Campbell finished
with a 49-28 edge on the glass, including a 20-11 margin in
second-chance points.
The Keydets shot 47 percent
for the game (33-70) and 47.5 percent (19-40) from 3-point range
while canning 12-of-16 from the stripe.
Campbell shot better than 50 percent
from the field (.529) for the third time in as many home games at
the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center / Gilbert Craig Gore
Arena. The Camels, however,
made only 3-of-11 (.273) threes while hitting 15-of-21 (.714) from
the line.
The Camels travel to
Appalachian State Saturday for a 5:00 p.m. tip-off Saturday. VMI heads to Jacksonville State
Saturday for a 5:00 p.m. (EST) tap.
