.jpg)
Virginia Military Institute’s men’s basketball team earned a hard-fought 82-70 victory over Southern Conference rival The Citadel at home on Saturday afternoon at Cameron Hall in Lexington to sweep the season series with the Bulldogs.
The Keydets (12-13 overall, 6-6 Southern Conference), coming off a 62-55 home loss to East Tennessee State University last Wednesday, improved to .500 within league play. They have now achieved two season sweeps against SoCon opponents, as VMI has topped both The Citadel (5-18, 0-12) and Western Carolina in both contests this year. When the two teams met at The Citadel on Jan. 18, VMI won 75-70.
In the rematch, VMI and The Citadel played a tight contest for much of the opening half as VMI led by just a 30-27 tally with four minutes before the break. The Keydets went on a little run over the final stretch to build a 41-31 halftime advantage, as Rickey Bradley Jr. and Linus Holmström hit 3-pointers in that span to help the Keydets increase their lead.
The momentum fueled a great start to the second half in which VMI ballooned the lead to 21 at the 14:36 mark, following a layup and 3-pointer from Holmstrom.
The Bulldogs battled back to within seven, however, at 68-61 following a Sola Adebisi breakaway dunk with 6:15 remaining to force a VMI timeout. VMI stayed the course and made enough baskets and free throws down the stretch to earn victory.
Bradley Jr. led all players with 23 points and pulled down eight rebounds., while Holmström added 12 points, Augustus Kiudulas and TJ Johnson scored 11 points each, and AJ Clark chipped in 10.
Christian Moore led The Citadel with 17 points, knocking down three 3-poitners, while Brody Fox added 14 points, and Adebisi scored 12 points.
VMI forced 11 Citadel turnovers, which yielded 17 points for the Keydets. The Keydets shot 87.5 percent from the freethrow line during the contest, going 28-of-32.
The Keydets will have two SoCon road contests this week, as they travel to the University of North Carolina Greensboro tonight for a 7 p.m. game before playing at Mercer on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
For the Keydets’ schedule and updates, visit www.vmikeydets. com.
