VMI rolls past D-II Southern Wesleyan 90-52

Dec 15, 2017, 03:37 am

LEXINGTON, Va. -- Jordan Ratliffe totaled 13 points, four rebounds and three steals to propel VMI to a 90-52 victory over Division II member Southern Wesleyan on Thursday night.

Sarju Patel scored 12 and Tyler Creammer added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Keydets (5-5), who shot 54 percent (34 of 63) from the floor for the game.

DJ Dobson topped the Warriors with 14 points, while Jeremy Wert scored 10 with eight rebounds. Southern Wesleyan shot just 29 percent (15 of 51) from the floor and made 1 of 15 from 3-point range (7 percent).

VMI dominated the first meeting between the schools since 2008, outscoring the Warriors 24-6 in points off turnovers. VMI's bench outscored its counterpart 51-14 and the Keydets had a 41-31 rebound advantage.

The Keydets jumped out in front early and never trailed. Greg Parham's 3-pointer midway through the first half pushed VMI's lead to 21-10 and when Keith Smith scored the final five points of the first half VMI led 51-23. The lead grew to 31 on Ratliffe's layup five minutes into the second half.