Lexington, Va. – VMI shot over 51% from the floor and converted on 24-of-27 trips to the foul line to down Furman, 91-82, on Wednesday night at Cameron Hall in Lexington, Va.
 
Leading 43-36 at the break following an 8-0 run to end the first half, VMI's Tan Yildizoglu converted a three-point play to open the second half to extend the Keydet lead to 46-36. Furman trimmed the margin to 46-40, but the Keydets answered with a 7-0 run to increase their advantage to 53-42 on AJ Clark's breakaway jam with 15:37 to play and the Paladins got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
 
The loss, Furman's third in its last four games, dropped the Paladins to 15-5 overall and 3-4 in Southern Conference play. VMI won its third straight game to improve to 9-11 overall and 3-4 in the SoCon.
 
The Keydets hit on 9-of-22 three-point attempts and outscored the Paladins 40-20 in the paint while committing just seven turnovers. Augustinas Kiudulas led VMI with 22 points on 10-of-11 shooting at the line while Rickey Bradley Jr. went 6-of-10 from the field and 6-for-6 at the charity stripe to finish with 19 points. TJ Johnson totaled 12 points, Yildizoglu posted 11 and Linus Holmstrom added 10 to give VMI five players in double figures.
 
Furman shot only 37.1% from the field despite connecting on 16-of-44 three-point tries. The Paladins fashioned a 45-29 edge on the glass and matched their season-high with 20 offensive rebounds to post a 20-3 margin in second-chance points.
 
Charles Johnston and Ben VanderWal both notched their first double-doubles of the season in the loss. Johnston hit a career-high five triples to lead the Paladins with 18 points and added 11 rebounds and four assists. PJau Smith Jr. also tallied 18 points on 6-for-11 shooting from three. VanderWal was 5-of-9 from the floor and 5-for-6 at the line en route to totaling 15 points to go with 12 rebounds.
 
VMI led for 18 of the opening 20 minutes and erased a 36-35 Paladin lead with its late run to lead going into the locker room when Johnson drained a three-pointer at the first half buzzer for the Keydets. Furman shot only 31.6% in the first half and connected on just 6-of-22 three-point attempts. VanderWal and Johnston tallied 12 points apiece in the opening period. The Paladin bench netted 34 of Furman's 36 first-half points.
 
Furman is back in action on Saturday when it takes on the Mercer Bears at 4:30 p.m. at Hawkins Arena in Macon, Ga. ESPN+ will live stream Saturday afternoon's matchup and fans can also listen to the action on The Fan Upstate at 97.7 FM and 1330 AM in Greenville, 97.1 FM and 1490 AM in Spartanburg, and via the Audacy app. Links for the broadcast, live audio, and live statistics are available at FurmanPaladins.com.