The Bucs put their seven-game win streak on the line when they faced VMI on Saturday. The Bucs came into Freedom Hall with only one home loss early in the season.
With a 13-4 record and a perfect 4-0 conference record, the Bucs become rank No. 5 in the mid-major top 25. The Bucs cruised past VMI with an 89-48 victory.
In the first half, the Bucs defensive effort helped overcome their slow start offensively. VMI finished the half shooting just 19 percent with their impressive freshman Bubba Parham (Snellville, Georgia) leading the way with nine points.
The Bucs full court press and half court defensive pressure forced VMI into nine turnovers for the first half.
On offense for the Bucs was freshman, Bo Hodges (Nashville, Tennessee) who had a big spark off the bench and scored nine points in the first half.
Hodges was efficient converting on four out of six shots in 10 mins of play. Senior Devontavius Payne (Carbondale, Illinois) led all scorers with 11 points and seven rebounds in the first half.
As a team, the Bucs shot 43 percent from the field. The Bucs went into the half leading 35-19 with a lot of things to improve on going into the second half.
“We had really good preparation; we were not really intuned offensively to start the game,” said Head Coach Steve Forbes. “I thought it was a really strong, good defensive effort by our team.”
The Bucs defense was still effective in the second half, allowing VMI to still shoot below 40 percent in the second half. For VMI they only had two scorers finish in double figures, Parham with 16 points and Austin Vereen with 10 points.
In the second half on offense for the Bucs, seniors Desonta Bradford (Humboldt, Tennessee) and David Burrell (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) really got going. Bradford finished the half on four of six shooting for nine points while Burrell went five of six for 13 points. As a team, the Bucs only had two turnovers in the second half.
“We did some subbing to get guys going offensively,” said Forbes.
This proved to be big for Hodges who finished with 16 points on seven of 12 shooting.
The Bucs won 89-48, improving their record to 14-4 and remain undefeated in conference play. Bradford received his 1,000th point in the win to help the Bucs win streak to improve to eight.
