Vanderbilt smothers Dartmouth's offense in win

Vanderbilt's Ezra Manjon scored 23 points and Tyrin Lawrence added a season-high 22 points, leading the Commodores to a 69-53 win over visiting Dartmouth in Nashville, Tenn., on Saturday.

Manjon scored 19 in the second half and added five assists in the game for the Commodores, who committed just six turnovers, held the Big Green to 37.7 percent from the floor and allowed a season low in points.

Brandon Mitchell-Day and Dusan Neskovic each had 14 for Dartmouth.

Vanderbilt (5-8) took a lead for good late in the first half during a Dartmouth (4-9) field-goal drought lasting more than 10 minutes, which finally ended when Mitchell-Day hit a layup with 16:25 left.

Vanderbilt's Tasos Kamateros drilled a 3 from the right side with 18:02 left, making for the first double-digit lead (34-23) for either team.

Lawrence picked up a steal and followed it with a 3 with 12:49 left, making the margin 44-27.

Manjon hit a mid-range jumper with 2:24 left and followed that with a layup with 1:54 left, giving the Commodores their biggest lead at 18.

Dartmouth's Neskovic scored the game's first five points and his team led most of the first half.

But the Big Green failed to hit a field goal in the last 7:06 of the half, opening the door for a Vanderbilt rally.

Jason Rivera-Torres hit a mid-range fadeaway to put the Commodores up 23-21 in the midst of that.

Lawrence ended the half with a step-back 3 from the left side, extending the Vanderbilt lead to 31-23.

Vanderbilt played without starting forward Ven Allen Lubin (10.9 ppg, 5.4 rpg), who missed the second half of last Saturday's game against Memphis with a groin injury, as well as reserve guard Isaiah West (3.5 ppg), who sat on the bench with a boot on his left foot.