Ezra Manjon came off the bench to score 19 points and Tyrin Lawrence added 15 to lead Vanderbilt to an 85-82 victory over host Georgia in Southeastern Conference play on Saturday at Athens, Ga.
Manjon, who scored 15 second-half points, finished 8 of 12 from the field. Lawrence went 4 of 11 from the floor and grabbed four rebounds for the Commodores (10-9, 3-3).
Myles Stute went 5 of 6 from the floor, including a perfect 4 of 4 from 3-point range, to finish with 14 points.
Jordan Wright and Trey Thomas each had 12 points and Quentin Millora-Brown finished with a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with seven points for the Commodores, who have won two of their past three games.
Georgia (13-6, 3-3), which has dropped two straight games, was led by Jabri Abdur-Rahim. He nailed five 3-pointers on eight attempts en route to finishing with a career-high 21 points.
Terry Roberts chipped in 15 points, six rebounds and a game-high six assists. Kario Oquendo finished with 13 points, while Braelen Bridges added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Bulldogs.
Georgia outrebounded the Commodores 40-30, largely because Vanderbilt was without Liam Robbins, the team’s leading scorer (13.2 points per game) and rebounder (5.9). He is sidelined with a bone bruise and sprained foot.
The Bulldogs rallied after Millora-Brown’s layup gave Vanderbilt a 77-65 advantage with 4:51 remaining.
Georgia went on an 11-0 run to pull to within 77-76 on Roberts’ layup with 2:13 to play, prompting Vanderbilt to call timeout.
After Wright was called for traveling and the Bulldogs committed a shot clock violation on their ensuing possession, Lawrence sank two free throws for a 79-76 lead with 1:04 to go.
Oquendo split a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 79-77 with 47 seconds to play. Manjon was fouled and hit two free throws to make it a four-point game with 23 seconds remaining.
Roberts’ layup cut it to 81-79 with 18 seconds to go, but Trey Thomas hit two free throws with 13 seconds left.
Oquendo made three free throws after being fouled taking a 3-pointer before Thomas sank a pair with four seconds left to provide the final margin.
Abdur-Rahim’s 3-pointer from the top of the key clanged off the back of the rim as time expired.
–Field Level Media
