LEXINGTON, Va. -- Josh Sharkey scored a late basket and Samford held on to edge VMI 69-67 despite making only one basket in the last 3:50 on Saturday afternoon.

Demetrius Denzel-Dyson led Samford (14-8, 5-4 Southern Conference) with 18 points and Alex Thompson added 17 -- after being held to two points in the last two games -- as the Bulldogs ended a two-game skid.

Justin Hopkins scored a season-best 13 points, Wyatt Walker 11 and Sharkey finished with four.

QJ Peterson led VMI (5-15, 2-7) with 21 points and Armani Branch added 14. In the last 2:28, Peterson stole the ball from Denzel-Dyson and fed to Adrian Rich for a layup, cutting the gap to 67-65, and Peterson hit with 1:26 left to make the score 69-67 after a basket by Sharkey.

Samford missed twice in the final minute and VMI controlled the rebound each time, but Branch had the ball stolen once and also missed a potential game-tying jumper as time ran out.