HIGH POINT, N.C. – Austin Kenon scored a season-high 33 points and Virginia Military Institute pulled away with a late spurt to outlast High Point 97-91 on Saturday night.
The Keydets (11-7, 4-4 Big South Conference) led most of the second half, but the Panthers stayed close.
With VMI up 78-76 with 2:37 left, Stan Okoye grabbed a rebound off a missed free throw and found Nick Gore for a 3-pointer. That sparked the decisive 13-0 run and a 91-76 lead with 59 seconds left.
High Point (5-11, 2-5) lost its eighth straight despite a season-high team point total and a season-high 32 points from Nick Barbour.
VMI, which came in as the nation's scoring leader (92.5 points), shot 44.4 percent from the field (28 of 63), 48.3 percent from beyond the arc (14 of 29) and 77.1 percent from the line (27 of 35).
Keith Gabriel added 20 points for the Keydets and Okoye had 17 points and 12 rebounds.
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