VMI men's basketball routs Virginia Lynchburg 115-83 in season opener

The VMI Keydets opened their season with a 115-83 win over the Virginia Lynchburg Dragons on Monday at Cameron Hall in Lexington. VMI never trailed and led by as many as 40 points.

VMI is 1-0 and 1-0 at home. A crowd of 954 attended.

How it played out

VMI scored 60 points in the first half and 55 in the second. Virginia Lynchburg scored 31 in the first half and 52 in the second.

TJ Johnson led VMI with 17 points, going 6 of 11 from the floor and 5 of 10 from three-point range. Alexander Daushvili scored 15 on 6-of-7 shooting, including 2 of 2 from three, and grabbed seven rebounds. Rokas Zilys added 14 points off the bench, hitting 3 of 5 from three.

AJ Clark scored 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting and had five steals in 14 minutes. Rickey Bradley Jr. scored 10 and had a game-high seven assists. Joao Panzo also scored 10, and Cal Liston had eight. Trap Johnson scored seven and blocked three shots. Walker Andrews added six points on 2-of-5 three-point shooting in six minutes.

Paulius Narvilas led the game's rebounders with 10, three of them offensive, though he scored just two points.

Team numbers

VMI shot 43 of 89 (48 percent) overall and 18 of 44 (41 percent) from three. The Keydets outrebounded the Dragons 56-37, including 21 offensive boards, and had 27 assists against 13 turnovers. VMI had 11 steals, scored 40 fast-break points and 48 points in the paint, and had 20 points off turnovers.

Virginia Lynchburg shot 31 of 72 (43 percent) and made 6 of 22 threes. The Dragons made 15 of 23 free throws and committed 14 turnovers.

Virginia Lynchburg

Donovan Peterson led the Dragons with 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Isaiah Dennis and Jacob Newman each scored 15, with Dennis making 3 of 4 from three and Newman going 7 of 10 at the line. Teryck White added 11 points and Zephaniah Williams had 10.

Next up

VMI plays at SMU on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. ET.