VMI 78, Liberty 58

Published Mar. 6, 2009 2:11 a.m. ET

foxsports

Chavis Holmes scored 22 points and twin Travis Holmes added 16 as Virginia Military Institute rallied to defeat Liberty 78-58 Thursday night in the semifinals of the Big South Conference tournament. The second-seeded Keydets (24-7) trailed most of the first half and 32-27 at the break. VMI pulled ahead with 15:06 to go on a 3-pointer by Chavis Holmes to make it 39-38, then used a 30-10 run to lead by 21 with 5:43 left. No. 3 seed Liberty (22-11) shot 30.3 percent in the second half (10 of 33). Kyle Ohman scored 16 points to pace the Flames, while freshman Seth Curry had only 10. Curry, who scored 30 in the Flames' quarterfinal win over Gardner-Webb, was 4 of 15 from the field and 1 of 8 from 3-point range. The Keydets, who have won four straight, advance to Saturday's championship game against North Carolina-Asheville or Radford.