Box Score
LEXINGTON, Va. – Stan Okoye had game-highs of 34 points and 16 rebounds to lead VMI to a 94-80 Big South Conference men's basketball victory against Longwood University on Saturday afternoon in Lexington. Okoye made seven three-point field goals for the host Keydets (13-16, 8-8 Big South), who made 16 three-pointers in the contest, and led 58-42 at halftime. Freshman
Michael Kessens/Nyon, Switzerland led six players in double-figures for the Lancers (7-24, 4-12 Big South) with 17 points in the North Division contest and regular-season finale. Longwood will play a first-round game in the 2013 VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Championship on Tuesday, March 5 at the HTC Center in Conway, South Carolina – the opponent and time to be determined late Saturday.
Longwood entered the game as winners of three-straight and four of the past five league games, and started well at VMI while taking an 11-6 lead at 14:11 behind six points from redshirt-sophomore
Jeylani Dublin/Brooklyn, New York and five points from junior captain
David Robinson/Chesterfield. The Lancers led 15-12 at 13:11 after a jumper by Kessens, but the Keydets used an 11-2 run to take a 23-17 lead at 10:09, as Okoye already had 12 points. The first seven shots made by the hosts were three-pointers, including four from Okoye. Back-to-back baskets by Kessens had the visitors within 23-21 at 8:52, before VMI took control with a 16-0 run to lead 39-21 at 5:49. The outburst included three more three-pointers, two by Nick Gore, and five more quick points from Okoye. The two teams played nearly even until halftime with LU trailing 58-42 at the intermission. Okoye had 22 points with five of the team's 12 three-pointers at the break, while Kessens had 12 first-half points and Dublin had 10 points.
VMI stretched its advantage to 66-45 with 17:58 remaining after Okoye scored eight quick points. Longwood, however, refused to let things get out of hand on Senior Day for the Keydets. The Lancers closed to within 70-57 at 14:18 after a 12-4 run that began with a three-pointer from freshman
Lucas Woodhouse/Greenlawn, New York and included baskets from Dublin and freshman
Karl Ziegler/Annandale, along with five quick points by junior captain
Tristan Carey/Colonial Beach, who made a three-pointer at 16:37 for his first points of the game. Another three-pointer from Carey and a jumper by Kessens made it 74-62 at 12:03, and LU got as close as it would get at 77-66 with 10:53 left after a steal and layup by Carey. VMI, though, secured its victory with a 17-8 run behind eight points from D.J. Covington to lead 94-74 at 2:41. The Lancers scored the last six points of the contest to provide for the final margin.
“We have been playing better defensively over the course of the last three weeks,” said 10th-year head coach Mike Gillian. “One of the key factors in that is recognition of how other teams have been scoring against us and adjusting quickly to put a stop to it. We didn't do that in the first half today. VMI was taking and making a lot of three-point shots right from the start of the game and we weren't able to shut that off. We did come out in the second half and work our way back into the game. We were a few stops away from getting back within striking distance with about 10 minutes to play, just never able to get their lead down into single digits. The reality that exists for us now is it's on to tournament time. We didn't play we'll enough to win today, but we have played well enough in the last three weeks to know what we are capable of accomplishing down in Myrtle Beach.”
Kessens led Longwood with his 17 points, adding seven rebounds. Dublin added 14 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for his third double-double. Carey and Ziegler each had 13 points, Carey's all scored in the second half along with a game-high four steals for the Lancers. Woodhouse finished with 11 points, nine assists and a career-high six rebounds. Robinson contributed 10 points. LU shot 48% (31-64) from the field, including 33% (6-18) on three-pointers and 67% (12-18) at the free throw line.
Okoye led VMI with his game-highs of 34 points and 16 rebounds for his 11th double-double, making 7-11 three-pointers. Covington had 16 points for the Keydets. Rodney Glasgow and Brian Brown, off the bench, each finished with 11 points with Glasgow adding a game-high 10 assists for his own double-double. VMI shot 49% (33-68) from the field, including 43% (16-37) on three-pointers, and 86% (12-14) at the line.
Longwood and VMI were meeting for the seventh time in the sport since 1982, and the Keydets lead the series, 5-2. The Lancers had fell at home to VMI earlier this season by a score of 93-60 on February 6.
