VMI (0-1) vs. Army (0-1) (ET)

GAME NOTES: A third-place finish in the second annual All-Military Classic is on the line this afternoon, as the VMI Keydets battle the Army Black Knights at McAlister Field House in Charleston, South Carolina.

In the first round of this season-opening tournament on Saturday, the Keydets were bounced by the Bulldogs of The Citadel, this year's host. Last year, the same two teams tipped off their respective schedules in this event as well, with VMI capturing a 103-100 victory, so it was time for some revenge by the Bulldogs.

In the case of the Black Knights, they were matched up against Air Force yesterday afternoon and were turned back in a 76-65 final, even after Army led by as many as 15 points in the second half.

In a series that dates back to 1971, the Keydets hold a 6-4 edge over Army heading into this meeting. The most recent matchup took place in 2009-10 when VMI posted a 93-86 win to kick off the campaign.

Used to having a wide-open floor, the Keydets had their pace slowed a bit by the Bulldogs yesterday as the visitors shot less than 40 percent from the floor and turned the ball over 18 times in the losing effort. Nevertheless, VMI had four starters score in double figures in the meeting, starting with Brian Brown who tallied a game-high 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting from three- point range. D.J. Covington came up a rebound short of a double-double as he dropped 15 points, followed by Stan Okoye and Rodney Glasgow with 14 and 11 points, respectively. The team took more than half of its 68 shot attempts from three-point range, connecting on 14 opportunities. However, one of the key aspects of the contest came at the free-throw line where the Keydets were outscored by a 23-8 margin.

Army battled hard against the Falcons yesterday and thanks to a perfect 7-of-7 showing at the free-throw line in the first half, the Knights led by seven at the break. That advantage ballooned to 15 early in the second half, but Army was unable to hold off an aggressive run by Air Force and eventually suffered the double-digit setback. Considered one of the top players in the Patriot League, Ella Ellis led the way for the Black Knights with his 16 points, but he shot just 4-of-12 from the floor and didn't make a single shot from inside the three-point line. Josh Herbeck accounted for 12 points, but he too was heavily focused on his perimeter shooting (3-of-11) and like Ellis didn't make another shot from anywhere else on the floor, outside of his 3-of-3 showing at the charity stripe. Kyle Wilson contributed another 10 points off the bench in 16 minutes.

Capable of running up the score, the Keydets will try to open up the tempo which means far more long-distance tries and quite possibly a higher-scoring outcome.