LEXINGTON, Va. (AP) -Stan Okoye matched his career-high of 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Virginia Military Institute defeated Southern Virginia 99-87 on Tuesday night, giving the Keydets back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
Okoye, a freshman, had his fifth straight double-double and scored 15 points in the first half for VMI (7-12), which beat High Point 94-91 on Saturday.
The Knights (12-5) erased a 12-point VMI lead to tie the game at 37, but Okoye scored four points for a 41-38 edge at intermission.
The Keydets opened the second half on a 14-6 run. Southern Virginia, an NAIA school, cut the deficit to three twice, the last time at 84-81 with 4:49 left. VMI pulled away with an 8-1 spurt.
Austin Kenon added 18 points for the Keydets and Ron Burks had 13 and seven assists.
Corey Evans had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Southern Virginia, which is 0-9 against VMI.
