Box Score Box Score

LEXINGTON, VA--VMI delivered a season-high 16 three-point bombs, got 32 points from Keith Gabriel and outscored Winthrop by 16 points from the free throw stripe en route to a 86-79 Big South Conference victory on Saturday in Cameron Hall.

With the game's outcome still in the balance in the closing minutes, Gabriel stuck two daggers into the Eagles when he drilled two deep and contested 3-pointers and made two free throws to give his team a six-point lead with 22 seconds remaining in the contest. The loss drops Winthrop to 10-15 overall and evens its Big South record at 7-7 while the Keydets improve to 12-11 in all games and 7-6 in league play.

With the kind of 3-point and free throw numbers that VMI posted,  it is hard to believe that Winthrop had a chance to win the game after battling back from a 11-point halftime deficit to take a seven point lead midway through the second half.   Winthrop lost despite shooting 51 percent from the field (32-63), connecting on 9 of 22 3-pointers, and dominating the glass by a 17-rebound margin (38-21). 

Winthrop placed four players in double figures led by Andre Jones who had another strong performance with 22 points and connecting on 5 threes.  Reggie Middleton finished with 17 while George Valentine had his sixth double-double of the year and second in a row with 16 points and 11 rebounds.  Matt Morgan was 7 of 8 shooting on the day and finished with 15.

But despite that quartet's effort, it wasn't enough to overcome VMI's long range shooting performance and big advantage at the free throw line. Gabriel scored a game-high 32 points as he went 5 of 7 from behind the arc and converted 15 of 16 free throws.  Gabriel made more free throws than Winthrop shot in the game as the Eagles finished with 6 of 12 from the line.  As a team the Keydets made 16 of 27 shots from 3-point land and were just 8 of 22 inside the arc.  They shot 49 percent for the game from the floor and were 22 of 26 at the charity stripe.

"When Gabriel (Keith) makes 15 out of 16 free throws and our entire team goes 6 of 12, you are not going to win," said Winthrop head coach Randy Peele. 

VMI jumped on Winthrop early to take a quick 9-2 lead after Stan Okoye's jumper with less than three minutes having elapsed in the game.  Winthrop still trailed by seven at 17-10 with 13:33 left in the first half after Valentine scored back-to-back buckets, but Gabriel answered with a 3-pointer and three free throws to give the Keydets their largest margin at 23-10 with 13:01 remaining.  Another 3-pointer by Gabriel put the Keydets up by 10 at 29-19 with 9 minutes and 50 seconds left in the period and forcing Peele to call a timeout.

Following the timeout, Winthrop scored 9 unanswered points in three minutes on two baskets from Jones and two from Morgan to make the score 29-28.  The Eagles finally took a brief lead at 36-34 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Jones with 3:38 left to play, but Okoye answered with a trey to lead VMI on a 13-0 run to close out the half.

"We just really dug ourselves a whole in the first half.  They shot 57 percent from the floor and 70 percent from the three and we made 13 turnovers," said Peele.  "I told our kids that we didn't compete hard enough in the first half, but at the end of the day they (VMI) really made some big shots."

Winthrop came out of the locker room after intermission and outscored VMI 12-3 in the first four minutes to make it a 50-48 game.  Morgan opened the half with a tough three-point play and then following a 3-pointer by Okoye, the Eagles got a bucket by Valentine inside, a free throw by Joab Jerome followed by a layup by Morgan and then finished off by a offensive rebound and dunk by Valentine. 

VMI scored five straight points to go back up by seven at 55-48 with 15:06 left in the game, but Winthrop went on a 13-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 62-55 with just under 11 minutes on the clock.  The Eagles got a pair of 3-pointers from Middleton and another by Jones along with buckets from Morgan and Andre Smith during the run.  

VMI fought back to knot the score at 66-66 when Ron Burks drilled a 3-pointer with 7:47 remaining to play.  After Okoye put his team up 73-71 with two free throws and a jumper, Jones answered for the Eagles with his fifth 3-pointer of the game to put Winthrop up 74-73 with 4:09 left.  Okoye responded with a 3-pointer to put his team ahead to stay at 76-74 at the 3:40 mark. Another 3-pointer by Gabriel gave the Keydets a 79-74 lead.  Winthrop cut the deficit to one point at 80-79 when Middleton connected on his final trey, but the Eagles could get no closer.

Winthrop's next game will be next Thursday, Feb. 9, when it travels to Campbell for a 7 p.m. game.