NASHVILLE, Tenn. - He might have be from the land down under,
but A.J. Oglivy was home under the basket making six of his ten
shots and scoring the game high 20 points to help lead Vanderbilt
over Tennessee Tech inside Memorial Coliseum Saturday night,
83-63.
Senior Daniel Northern tallied his second consecutive double-double
with 14 point and 18 rebounds. It was the first time since January
3, 1996 that a player has collected at least 18 rebounds against
the Commodores.
"I expect this from Daniel," said coach Mike Sutton. "I've told him
that he should have at least one rebound every two minutes and he
surpassed that today. What this does is allow us and him to get
more shot opportunities. He's a strong rebounder and attacks the
boards."
Junior Frank Davis also chipped in for Tech shooting the team high
19 points on seven for 14 shooting including four three-pointers to
bring the Golden Eagles within 13 with just over four minutes to
play.
But a strong surge by the Commodores pushed the lead up to 19 with
1:40 left in the game and held on for a 83-63 win. Both Jeffery
Taylor and Lance Goulbourne led Vanderbilt with seven rebounds a
piece.
10 players for the Golden Eagles scored while only nine for
Vanderbilt. The Commodores out rebounded Tech 24-18 in the second
half to earn the edge 46-40.
"Vanderbilt is a power team and made some good shots," Sutton said.
" They may be the best team that we have faced yet this season,
including Florida State. We did some good things, but we missed too
many free throws and you have to make more shots if you want to
beat a big team on the road. Vandy also defended us well today.
Tech (6-4, 0-1 OVC) returns to action on Dec. 29, when it plays the
return game at Louisiana-Monroe at 7 p.m. Earlier this season Tech
handed the Warhawks a 108-72 loss in Eblen.