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Commodore Men’s Basketball Team Wins Season Opener 73-57 11/19/2004
Commodore Men’s Basketball Team Wins Season Opener 73-57 NASHVILLE — The Commodores men’s basketball team won its season opener tonight, defeating the Toledo Rockets, 73-57. Box Score | Photo Gallery Vanderbilt scored its first two points of the season on a dramatic blocked shot by Julian Terrell and fast-break dunk by Corey Smith. The Commodores maintained the momentum by forcing three steals and landing nine unanswered points in the first four minutes of the game. Despite the early lead, the Dores were sporadic in the first half, missing several lay-ups, telegraphing passes, and at one point going two for seven from the free-throw line. At the other end of the court, Vanderbilt executed an aggressive and effective man-to-man defense, forcing seven turnovers and keeping the Rockets to a quiet six points in the first nine-and-a-half minutes of the game. Coach Kevin Stallings’ crew carried an 11-point lead into the locker room at the half. Commodore forwards Terrell and Dawid Przybyszewski absolutely dominated the boards. Przybyszewski pulled in a career-high 16 rebounds, and Terrell, a junior, had nine. Przybyszewski, a senior from Tor?n, Poland, completed the double-double, scoring a team high 15 points. Mario Moore, who scored only three points in the first half, ended the game with 15 as well. Senior Jason Holwerda poured in 10 points. Coming off the bench, freshman Alex Gordon was two for two behind the three-point arch and had eight points and a rebound. The Rockets pulled within 10 points at the 10-minute mark left in the game, but were not able to close the gap. With a fairly strong performance that was, at times, downright impressive, the Dores suffered from hot-and-cold shooting. With seven minutes to play, Vanderbilt had a higher shooting percentage from three-point land (40 percent) than they did for field goals overall (39.6 percent) and shot 60 percent from the free-throw line. Tonight’s men’s game was the second game in a doubleheader. In the game preceding the men’s match-up, Coach Melanie Balcomb’s Commodores won their season-opener against the St. Francis Red Flash, 102-47. Led in large part by the student organization The Memorial Maniacs, the crowd of 9,122 was engaged and boisterous throughout both games. The Commodores, who received a vote for the USA Today/ESPN Top-25 preseason poll, will host intra-city rival Tennessee State University on Sunday, Nov. 21, at 5 p.m. CT. |
