Conley paces VMI to victory over Cats

When the dust cleared Jason Conley and Virginia Military emerged with a 97-91 overtime victory over Kevin Martin and Western Carolina before 2,857 fans.

Conley, the nation's leading scorer, poured in 42 points for the Keydets. Martin finished with 38 points in the losing cause.

The difference came in the supporting cast as Radee Skipworth (15), Ben Rand (12), Tim Allmond (11) and Sam Mielnik (10) joined Conley in double figures.

Other than Martin, the Catamounts had no one scored more than nine points.

Western overcame a 17-point deficit midway through the second half and was still down by 16 with just over six minutes to play. However, the momentum from the rally did not carry over into the extra session.

Skipworth's layup with 4:05 to go in the extra session gave his team the lead for good at 78-76. Consecutive treys by Conley and Rand extended the margin to 85-78 at the 2:43 mark.

A three-pointer by Casey Rogers cut the gap to 8-86 with 53 seconds to go, but Conley beat the defense for a three-point play just four seconds later keeping the Keydets in control.

The Keydets suddenly went cold and did not score a field goal from the 8:22 mark until eight seconds remained. During that time, they missed six field goals and five free throws.

Meanwhile, the Cats were on a 19-1 run that would result in their only lead of the game. The spurt started when Martin hit a pair of treys sandwiched around one by Kori Hatcher. It ended with another Martin three-pointer for a 76-74 WCU edge with 30 seconds remaining. It was the Cats' only lead of the night.

Skipworth's jumper with eight seconds to go ended the drought and sent the game into overtime.

VMI scored the game's first four points, but Western fought back for an 8-8 tie on Martin's dunk at the 15:43 mark.

Conley's trey eight seconds later gave his team a lead it would hold until the final seconds of regulation.

Conley's four points keyed a 9-2 spurt putting the Keydets up 27-15 on Allmond's layup with 7:53 on the clock.

Martin scored five points, and Alex Osipovitch converted a three-point play cutting the gap to 33-28 at the 3:52 mark.

VMI was up 41-34 at intermission.

Conley made 14 of 22 field goals, including four of seven three-pointers, and 10 of 13 foul shots.

Martin was 10 of 15 from the floor, including six of nine treys, and 12 of 14 free throws.

The Keydets shot 49.3 percent from the floor, and WCU finished at 43.5 percent.

VMI held a 45-34 rebounding advantage. Richard Little had 10 rebounds for the Keydets, and Western's Rans Brempong also had 10. VMI had 21 turnovers compared to 19 by the Cats.

Completing the WCU scoring were:

Rogers and Kelvin Wylie with nine each, Hatcher and Willie Freeman with eight apiece, Cory Largent with seven, Brempong with six, and Osipovitch and Terrence Woodyard both with three.

Back to Sports: 02/14/02.