UVI Men’s Basketball Improves to 4-1 Over Weekend

Keith Gillmore follows through on a jump shot in UVI’s Sunday night victory at the Sports and Fitness Center. (Source photo by Kyle Murphy)
Keith Gillmore follows through on a jump shot in UVI’s Sunday night victory at the Sports and Fitness Center. (Source photo by Kyle Murphy)

The UVI men’s basketball team won two of three games over the weekend to raise its record to 4-1, but the women’s team, which was hoping to break into the win column, was unable to play because their opponents canceled the games and did not travel.

Friday: UVI 80, Johnson University 77
UVI scored the game’s first four points, but the early going was a seesaw, with the score tied on five different occasions and the lead switching hands three times over the next seven minutes.

With just over 10 minutes to go in the first half, the score was tied at 17.

Then Johnson University went on a 13-4 run that gave them a 30-21 advantage with just under six and a half minutes to go before halftime.

The Bucs chipped away at the deficit over the next four minutes and Keith Gillmore tied the game with a lay-up at the 2:35 mark of the half.

Gillmore brought the crowd to their its with a ferocious dunk while being fouled with eight seconds left before the half and hit the ensuing free throw to tie the game at 37-37.

Johnson University had the last say of the half, hitting a lay-up at the buzzer that gave them a two point edge at halftime.

The pattern continued In the second half, with neither team able to create much separation until Johnson University worked the score up to 62-56 with 9:47 left to go in the game.

UVI then went on a 19-3 run that settled the matter

The run started as UVI scored five points to cut Johnson’s lead to a single point. UVI took the lead with 6:20 left in the game UVI when Felix Ramos glided past his defender for a lay-up and a 65-64 lead.

By the end of the run UVI was up 10, 75-65, with about four and a half minutes left to play.

Johnson University made the game interesting late, trimming the lead to five with two minutes to go pulling within four with 45 seconds left.

Gillmore hit two free throws to get the UVI lead back up to six but a Johnson University three-pointer made it a one possession game with 12 seconds left.

UVI turned the ball over and Johnson University had a chance to inbound the ball and tie the game with 2.4 seconds to go.

The three point attempt missed and UVI kept its perfect record intact.

Bucs with double-digit point totals were Keith Gillmore, who netted 27points; Felix Ramos, 20; Tavian Pierson, 14; and Josh Goss, 12.

Saturday: Ottawa University 95, UVI 77
Within the games first four minutes, UVI fell behind 15-5 and was never able to bounce back as the Buccaneers fell 95-77 to Ottawa University.

The visitors extended their lead throughout the first half, pushing their advantage as high as 23 points with three minutes left in the first half.

UVI ran off 10 unanswered points in the half’s closing moments, trimming the deficit to 55-42.

In the early stages of the second half Ottawa stretched its lead to 18 points within the first five minutes of the second half, but UVI answered ran off its own streak – 8 points – to trim the margin to 10.

That was as close as the Bucs were able to get in the second half as Ottawa University handed UVI its first loss of the season.

Leading scorers for the home team were Keith Gillmore with 32 points, Josh Goss with 18 and Tavian Pierson with 12 points.

Sunday: UVI 75, Doane University 67
UVI fell behind 23-13 in the first half of its Sunday game before going on a 17-5 run and taking a 30-28 lead when Josh Goss hit a three pointer with 5:30 left in the first half.

UVI kept the momentum rolling for the rest of the first half, taking a 39-32 lead into halftime.

The Bucs kept rolling in the second half as they scored the period’s first eight points and extended their lead to 15 points. Doane kept fighting back, cutting UVI’s lead to five with 12 minutes to play. But that’s as good as it got for the visitors from Nebraska. UVI score the next eight points and led by a comfortable 13 before closing out the game and securing its fourth victory of the season.

The Bucs were led in the scoring department by Josh Goss’s 32 points, while Keith Gillmore chipped in 27.

Miguel Lopez, a graduate of St. Croix’s Central High School, had 23 points for the visiting Doane, earning his teams scoring honors.

Upcoming Games
The UVI men’s team will play again at 7:30 p.m. Monday against Wilberforce University then host a pair of games at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday against the University of Michigan Dearborn at 7:30 p.m at the Sports and Fitness Center,

The Women’s team will travel and play a pair of games against Loyola University and a game versus Xavier University next weekend in New Orleans.