Lawrence, Commodores down No. 6 Vols at the buzzer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tyrin Lawrence sank a 3-pointer from the corner at the buzzer on Saturday, lifting the Vanderbilt basketball men to a 66-65 victory over No. 6/5 Tennessee at Memorial Gymnasium.

Lawrence finished with a game-high 19 points, going 8 of 12 from the field including 3 of 4 from beyond the 3-point arc, adding four rebounds to lead the Commodores (12-12, 5-6 SEC). Liam Robbins just missed a double-double after posting 14 points and nine rebounds, and Jordan Wright scored all 12 of his points in the second half.

Ezra Manjon finished with seven points and five assists, the last of which came on a pass to find Lawrence for the game-winning shot, and Colin Smith recorded seven points as well.

The contest saw the two teams exchange the lead 15 times and also featured nine matches. Down by two with 15 seconds left, the Dores had to commit five fouls before Santiago Vascovi finally went to the line for a one-and-one with eight seconds to go. When he missed the front end, Lawrence grabbed the rebound to set up Vandy’s final possession.

Vascovi and Tyreke Key each had 14 points to pace the Volunteers (19-5, 8-3 SEC), with Julian Phillips and Olivier Nkamhoua each contributing 10 points.

Vandy connected on 10 3-pointers, with Robbins going 3 of 4 and Wright sinking a pair as well, while shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc.

The Dores are next in action in Florida on Friday, with tip-off scheduled for 2:30 pm CT.