Cold Shooting Hands VMI 71-60 Loss To ETSU

VMI senior forward Phillip Anglade (#32) blocks an ETSU shot in the first half Thursday night as Trey Chapman (#15) looks on. ETSU came back in the second half to win 71-60.
VMI senior forward Phillip Anglade (#32) blocks an ETSU shot in the first half Thursday night as Trey Chapman (#15) looks on. ETSU came back in the second half to win 71-60.

The VMI’s men’s basketball team kept opening the refrigerator door Thursday night inside Cameron Hall.

Unfortunately for the Keydets, their shooting was the thing that cooled off the most.
Struggling with inconsistency from the field most of the evening, VMI watched as East Tennessee State took over in the second half to pull out the 71-60 Southern Conference win.
The Keydets, looking to avenge a 37-point loss to ETSU just over three weeks ago in Johnson City, had plenty of hope in the early going Thursday night, due mostly to the fact that ETSU opened the game with 3-of-10 shooting from the field while committing 7 quick turnovers.
Although VMI could have hardly been called sharpshooters during the opening 20 minutes, the Keydets did forge an 11-point lead on senior forward Phillip Anglade’s old fashion 3-point play with 5:35 left that put VMI up 26-15.
The rest of the half was a horror show for the Keydets, as ETSU closed with a 15-2 run that sent the visitors to the break up 30-28.
“We let up,” VMI senior guard QJ Peterson said afterward. “We didn’t take advantage. We were hitting some shots early so our defense was good, and we got up 11. When we weren’t hitting shots, our defense got down.”
VMI scored the opening basket of the second half to forge a 30-30 tie, but ETSU regained the lead and never trailed the rest of the night. The Keydets were only down 55-50 with just under 8 minutes left, when East Tennessee took control with a 10-0 run to go up 65-50.
VMI cut the deficit to 67-60 on a strike from behind-the-arc by junior guard Julian Eleby with 1:01 remaining, but the Keydets couldn’t find the twine the rest of the way as ETSU hit four straight free throws to seal the win.
“We had an off-night,” junior forward Trey Chapman noted. “In the second half, we wanted to focus on a better start. East Tennessee made some defensive adjustments and we weren’t hitting our shots. We can’t let our offense affect our defense. We have to focus on little things. One messed up assignment, then one bad play, and you’re done.”
“The offense was pushing the ball well in the first half, and we should have been up more,” VMI head coach Dan Earl said. “In the second have we needed some guys to step up. We couldn’t make a stop when we needed it. We’ve got to figure it out.”
“We’ve got to learn from it,” Earl added. “You’ve got to try to get the guy’s confidence up. We’re a little bit improved from the beginning of the year, and each guy gets a little better each game.”
VMI finished with 21-for-57 shooting from the field, 11-of-34 from behind-the-arc.
The Keydets were led in scoring by Peterson and Eleby, each netting 18 points.  Ge’Lawn Guyn had a game-high 20 points for ETSU.
The Keydets return to action at Cameron Hall Saturday afternoon for a 1:00 tipoff with Western Carolina.
Bill Turner

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