2006 SEC Tournament
Day 1 – Game 3
Vanderbilt 76 vs. Auburn 71
Byars and Foster combine for 41 as Vandy wins
Gaylord Entertainment Center - Nashville, TN
The game between homestanding Vanderbilt and Auburn looked to be one of the better match-ups on the 1st day of the SEC Tournament and it was as the game went down to the last few seconds before the “Commodores” behind two 20 point scorers, Derrick Byars (21pts) and Shan Foster (20pts) pulled out the win.
Auburn’s Head Coach Jeff Lebo knows he has a young squad and that he needs a few more pieces to make the “Tigers” as competitive as he would like them to be but that didn’t stop them from jumping out to an early 8 point lead on Vandy.
Frank Tolbert a 6-4 sophomore drilled a pair of three-pointers and former McDonald’s All-American and Manchester High School star 6-7 Fr.-Korvotney Barber hit a jumper to give Auburn a 10-2 lead.
Vandy’s 6-6 So.-Shan Foster and 6-7 Jr.-Derrick Byars each responded knocking down three-pointers as the “Commodores” stormed back cutting the lead to 14-10. Fouls started hurting Auburn early as Barber picked up his 2nd foul and had to take a seat on the bench.
Auburn’s 6-5 Fr.-Rasheem Barrett (a former Marist All-State performer) is going to be an All-American before he leaves the Auburn campus, his game is really starting to take off and he gave the SEC a sneak peak at what he could do all season and it didn’t stop there; his rebound put-back and three-pointer gave the “Tigers” a 19-12 lead with 11:21 left in the half.
Barber returned to the game at the 8:00 minute mark and scored inside, teammate 6-5 Sr.-Ronny LeMelle followed that up with a three-pointer that made the score 26-19. A few minutes later the Auburn lead would reach 8 again 29-21 when Barrett drilled his 2nd three-pointer with 4:29 left on the clock.
Vandy made a late run getting another three-pointer from Byars and a dunk from 6-9 Sr.-Julian Terrell cutting the lead to 32-28. With time running out in the half Byars knocked down his 4th three-pointer of the half as the “Commodores” went into the half trailing 34-31.
Early in the 2nd half the “Commodores” tied the game at 37-37 on a three-pointer by Foster. Three’s seemed to be the order of the day for Vandy as 5-11 So.-Alex Gordon knocked one down to give the “Commodores” their first lead of the game 40-39.
A lay-up by Byars pushed the Vandy lead to 6, 49-43 with 12:59 to play. Auburn didn’t fold, LeMelle a senior started making things happen as he hit a three-pointer and feed teammate 6-5 So.-Daniel Hayes for a lay-up after a steal to cut the lead to 49-48. A few seconds later the senior scored again as Auburn retook the lead 50-49.
Byars and Foster started taking control of things midway through the 2nd half as Vandy took a 60-56 lead. Fouls and bad shot selections started doing in Auburn as the fell behind 63-56 with 3:18 to play.
Down the stretch Vandy’s Terrell, a native of Nashville used his 6-9 frame to gobble up space in the paint. His three-point play made the score 65-58. The “Tigers” still had some fight left in them and had a chance when Tolbert hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 68-66 with 1:37 on the clock.
Danny Cage a 6-5 junior hit 4 free-throws for the “Commodores” with under :40 seconds to play as Vanderbilt held on to come away with a hard fought 76-71 win. Vandy will now face LSU on Friday in the quarter-finals.
Scoring Recap
Vanderbilt:
Derrick Byars scored a game high 21 points to lead the “Commodores”. Shan Foster added 20 points and 9 rebounds. Julian Terrell finished with 13 points and 8 rebounds. DeMarre Carroll chipped in with 8 points.
Auburn:
Frank Tolbert scored 17 points and grabbed 6 rebounds to pace the “Tigers”. Quantez Robertson finished with 17 points, Ronny LeMelle added 13 points and Rasheem Barrett had 11 points.
