Chattanooga beats VMI 92-72, faces Samford in SoCon quarters

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Jake Stephens had 21 points in Chattanooga's 92-72 victory against VMI on Friday night in the opening round of the Southern Conference Tournament, advancing to face No. 2 seed Samford in Saturday's quarterfinal round.

Stephens added 10 rebounds for the Mocs (15-16, 1-0 Southern Conference). Khristion Courseault scored 21 points while shooting 9 for 9, including 3 for 3 from beyond the arc. Sam Alexis recorded 10 points and finished 4 of 5 from the field.

The Keydets (7-24, 0-1) were led by Tony Felder, who posted 19 points and four assists. Asher Woods added 16 points for VMI. Rickey Bradley, Jr. also had 14 points, eight rebounds and two steals.

Chattanooga took the lead with 19:48 remaining in the first half and never looked back. Stephens led his team in scoring with 11 points in the first half to help put them up 43-24 at the break. Chattanooga extended its lead to 52-31 during the second half, fueled by an 8-0 scoring run. Courseault scored a team-high 15 points in the second half as his team closed out the win.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.