In the first half of the Commodores' Saturday afternoon date with Mississippi, freshman Lance Goulbourne failed to enter the scoring column.
"In the locker room during halftime, Coach (Kevin Stallings) told the bench specifically that we needed to pick it up," Goulbourne said. "I took that to heart. I felt like I didn't do much when I got in. I tried to do what I could to make the team better."
He certainly succeeded.
The 6-8 forward tied a career high in the second half alone, scoring 11, to help lead Vanderbilt to a 71-61 victory over visiting Ole Miss in Memorial Gymnasium.
Goulbourne displayed exceptional versatility, shooting a perfect 4-4 from the field, and 2-2 from beyond the arc. He spearheaded a 13-4 Commodore run through the middle of the final period, notching 8 in the process.
"Lance Goulbourne came in, and made a couple threes. (He) had a nice dunk," Stallings said. "I thought our bench in the second half was very productive."
The stretch was capped off with a crowd-raising dunk, on an in-bounds pass from junior guard Jermaine Beal with just 7:43 to play in regulation.
"That is the first option. (Stallings) did draw it up in the timeout," Goulbourne said. "Beal threw a great pass, and I finished it."
The New York City-native, however, was not the only freshman to help lift the Commodores.
Forward Jeffery Taylor, to the contrary, did most of his work in the first half. The 6-7 swingman scored 10 in the first half to help pace the Vanderbilt as it raced to a 29-10 lead, en route to a 31-19 advantage at intermission. Taylor finished with 14 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists.
"I just think they felt the urgency to come out and get a really good start," Stallings said of his team. "And, defensively, we locked in quickly."
The other freshman starter, Brad Tinsley, went 5-8 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers to add 12 for the Commodores, who never trailed in the contest. On less than 40 hours rest, the 6-3 guard played 34 minutes, after playing 37 on Thursday night against Alabama.
"You've just got to get it through your head that you've got to give your team 100 percent, and you've got to get through," Tinsley said of the last two home games. "These are two big wins for us, as a team and in the league."
For Vanderbilt, the three-game winning streak comes at a critical time, raising their Southeastern Conference record to 4-5 and overall to 15-8. The Commodores will enjoy a seven-day hiatus, before returning to perhaps the toughest stretch of the season. A home contest, versus Kentucky and prolific scorer Jodie Meeks, is sandwiched in between road dates at Tennessee and Florida, two teams that beat Vanderbilt by double digits at Memorial Gym.
Two straight wins over Alabama and Ole Miss may have helped Vanderbilt get their home swagger back.
"This was a game we really desperately needed to have anything to play for the rest of the season, other than our own pride and improvement," Stallings said. "You can't keep slipping up at home and have a reasonably good season. We needed to win these games. I thought we practiced well and we competed well."
by: Brian Linhares
