NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After getting out to a slow start, the Vanderbilt men’s basketball team picked up the tempo and defeated Alabama-Huntsville, 69-53, in Tuesday night’s exhibition game.
“I think it was just what we hoped to get in an exhibition game – a team that’s well coached and stuck with their plan,” said head coach Kevin Stallings of Alabama-Huntsville. “It was tough to play right out of the chute because they have long possessions and have the ball for long periods of time.”
John Jenkins led three players in double digits with 19, while Festus Ezeli added 12 and Jeffery Taylor scored 11 points in the victory. Eleven different Vanderbilt players contributed at least two points in the game. The Alabama-Huntsville Chargers were led by Zane Campbell who scored 16 points in 24 minutes.
After a back and forth start to the first half, the Commodores went on a 20-8 run to close out the first half. With the game tied at 11-11, Kyle Fuller hit a layup with 10:34 on the clock to put the `Dores up by two.
Alabama-Huntsville’s Jamie Smith made a free throw before VU scored 10 consecutive points, highlighted by back-to-back three pointers by Jenkins and Brad Tinsley. Campbell drained a three with two seconds on the clock to end the first period with the score 31-19.
“There is progress that needs to be made,” said Coach Stallings. “The effort was there and the focus was there on the defensive end.”
The visiting Chargers opened the second half with a 15-11 run to bring the Commodore lead to just eight, but Fuller hit back-to-back free throws to spark a 13-0 run to bring the lead back to 17.
Coming out of the eight-minute media timeout, Alabama-Huntsville scored two quick baskets, but Josh Henderson responded with a jumper to end the Charger run. Lance Goulbourne, Chris Meriwether and Steve Tchiengang all added points for the Commodores to maintain a 16 point lead at the end of the second half.
Vanderbilt is back in action Nov. 8 as the team hosts Southern Indiana in the final exhibition game of the season. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
