LEXINGTON, Va. (Feb. 4, 2026) – The ETSU men’s basketball team led for more than 36 minutes on their way to an 87-70 win over the VMI Keydets at Cameron Hall on Saturday afternoon, their third straight win and their tenth in SoCon play this season.
The Buccaneers (18-7, 10-2) got their first multi-possession lead less than four minutes in when Maki Johnson hit a pair of threes in the right corner 20 seconds apart, the first two buckets of a 15-point game for him that got ETSU ahead 11-6. Johnson stopped a 6-0 run by the Keydets (6-19, 1-11) with another three with 12:21 to go in the half that started a 12-0 ETSU run that featured a fourth three from Johnson and was capped by Blake Barkley at the basket with 8:33 left to the break. The Bucs led by as many as 13 points in the first half, but VMI used a 9-2 run to push themselves back into the game and cut the Bucs’ lead to seven points, 40-33, at halftime.
ETSU opened the second half on a 10-0 run with threes from Barkley and Brian Taylor II as well as one of a number of short jumpers over multiple defenders for Cam Morris III. The Keydets got the lead down to as little as eight points when Kaden Stuckey hit two free throws with 8:45 left, but ETSU answered immediately as a driving effort by Allen Strothers led to two foul shots that kicked off a decisive 11-0 run with another three from Johnson, two more tough shots in close from Morris, and a jumper from Barkley to stretch the score out to 77-58 with 6:05 left.
Barkley led the Bucs with 22 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, his sixth 20-point game and fifth double-double of the season. Morris had 16 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals, while Jordan McCullum hit double figures for the third straight game with 14 points complemented by three rebounds and four assists. Johnson had his best game since December 5, shooting 5-for-6 from three to notch 15 points. Jaylen Smith led the team with six assists.
ETSU shot 65.5% in the second half and 56.1% for the game. They shot 42% from three-point range with 11 made threes, their most since South Alabama on December 5. They outrebounded the Keydets 40-24 including 10 offensive boards on 25 opportunities leading to 13 second chance points, and they outscored VMI in the paint 36-22.
With the outcome of Wofford’s game against Western Carolina pending at press time, ETSU has a 1.5 game lead in the SoCon as they return home to host Chattanooga on Wednesday. Tip time is set for 7:00pm at Freedom Hall, and tickets are available at ETSUTickets.com.
