Brad Tinsley delivers late as Vanderbilt Commodores squeak past Oregon State Beavers 64-62: NCAA
In a low scoring cliffhanger between Oregon State Beavers and Vanderbilt Commodores which was in balance until the very last minute, Brad Tinsley knocked down a flying jumper in the dying moments to make all the difference and marshalled the Commodores to a 64-62 victory.
Commodores were exceptional at defense on the night and they choked the life out of Jared Cunningham - the Beavers scoring machine, who scored 35 and 37 points in the two games he played last week.
Cunningham was held to only 9 points in this game courtesy of Jeffrey Taylor, who made life difficult for Jared and did not allow him to penetrate the D.
Vanderbilt’s coach Kevin Stallings was all praise for his players and especially for Jeffrey ,who also scored 13 points and clutched 8 rebounds. He added
“Jeffrey did a great job on Cunningham all game. Jeff left it all out there, It was a solid outing defending their best player. Jeff has grown up and matured to handle that responsibility. We made some big adjustments to keep him off the foul line. He had 23 foul shots the other night and we kept him down (to five) tonight. I'll take that. It was a big emphasis for the entire team to guard him. When he had the ball, they all had to guard him."
John Jenkins was the most outstanding player from the winning team and finished with 14 points including a 4 for 7 effort from downtown.
With Cunningham hounded, Devon Collier led the Beavers with game high 19 points, including 8 for 11 from the free throw line, and 5 rebounds. Ahmad Starks put up an all round performance and ended with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists.
Joe Burton started the proceedings by lifting a driving layup in the first minute; however it was answered almost immediately by Lance Goulbourne’s three in the ensuing minute. Vanderbilt managed to acquire a lead 7-4 early, but Beavers got going and cut the lead. Neither team managed to dominate the frame for the remaining half as lead kept on shifting from one side to other. And fittingly, by the end, both teams were levelled at 31 all.
Lance and Jeffery Taylor provided some cushion to Vanderbilt early in the 2nd half. However, Beavers did not allow them to run away with the show and scored quickly to get level again. The scores were tied at 60 all with less than 2 minutes remaining. Both the teams scored on the next possessions to make it 62 and the game was apparently heading to overtime.
However Brad Tinsley had other ideas. He nailed a jumper right at the death to give the Commodores a close win.
Tags: