LEXINGTON, VA. – VMI hit 13 of its first 18 shots, including 7-of-9 threes, in the second half and defeated Campbell 76-57 Wednesday night at Cameron Hall.
The Keydets (9-7, 4-0) wrapped an 11-0 run around half-time and ended Campbell's (8-10, 3-1) 5-game win streak while gaining an early lead in the Big South Conference North Division.
Stan Okoye scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half and VMI shot 62.5 percent from the floor in the final period to stretch its win streak to five games. D.J. Covington scored 19 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, Rodney Glasgow added 16 points and 6 assists and Brian Brown chipped in 11 for VMI.
Trailing 33-27 at the break, VMI took its first lead (35-33) on Glasgow's floater in the lane with 16:58 left. Campbell tied the game at 41 with 13:02 remaining on consecutive baskets by Leek Leek and Trey Freeman, but the Keydets reeled off a 21-4 burst and led 62-45 after Glasgow connected beyond the arc with 7:39 to play.
The Camels made just 10-of-30 shots in the final period and committed 9 of their 16 turnovers in the final period. Reco McCarter led CU with 13 points and Freeman added 10 for the Camels, who finished the night shooting 39.7 from the floor and only went to the line 8 times (hitting 6).
VMI was 21-of-31 (.677) from the stripe and canned 9-of-22 triples. The Keydets entered the game ranked 4th nationally in scoring (82.6) and threes made (9.4).
The Keydets improved to 7-1 at home this season.
Campbell jumped to a 6-0 lead and never trailed in the first half. CU led by as many as 9 as the hosts shot just 29.6 percent (8-27) from the floor, but stayed close by making 3 more from the line (9-14) as the Camels attempted.
Andrew Ryan scored all 8 of his points in the first half points to lead Campbell, which made 13-of-28 (.464) shots, 2-of-6 threes, in the opening period. Covington scored 13 first-half points on 4-of-6 from the floor and 5-of-8 from the stripe.
Campbell returns home to face Winthrop Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in a contest that will be aired on ESPN3.
