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USF Men Fall To Vandy For Fourth Straight Loss

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A Tribune staff, wire report

The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 17, 2008

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Jermaine Beal and A.J. Ogilvy scored 20 points each and Vanderbilt opened the Southeastern Conference/Big East Invitational by beating the University of South Florida 71-52 Tuesday night to hand Commodores coach Kevin Stallings his 300th career victory.

Ogilvy also grabbed 13 rebounds and Jeffery Taylor finished with nine points as Vanderbilt (7-3) won its second straight. The Commodores grabbed the lead for good on a George Drake layup at 9-7 with 13:05 left in the first half and led 28-22 at halftime.

South Florida (3-5) lost its fourth straight game in the first of a four-game road trip. It is the Bulls' worst start since the 1987-88 squad went 2-6.

Mobolaji Ajayi fouled out for South Florida with 14:13 left when he was called for his fourth foul, then slammed the ball to the court for a technical.

Dominique Jones led the Bulls with 19 points off the bench. Gus Gilchrist added 12 and Mike Mercer had 10.

Douglas Scores 28 To Lead FSU

TALLAHASSEE - Toney Douglas scored 28 points and Ryan Reid's three-point play broke open a tie game as Florida State held off visiting Tennessee Tech.

Reid's 3-point play with 3:59 left broke a 55-55 deadlock as the Seminoles closed the game with a 14-5 run to improve to 10-1, equaling the best start in school history.

It was not easy. The Golden Eagles (6-3) overcame a six-minute scoreless stretch and a 53-44 deficit in the second half. Consecutive 3-pointers by Kevin Murphy and Daniel Northern's putback basket keyed an 11-2 run. DJ Lindsay's runner down the lane with 4:25 remaining tied it.

"We've been able to dodge some bullets," said FSU coach Leonard Hamilton, whose team won its seventh game by 10 points or less. "The thing that shows that this team is talented is that when we have to have stops, we've got to make good decisions, we've got to finish plays, we find a way. "We have to become a team that does that for 40 minutes and not 14 minutes."

Douglas was the lone double-figure scorer for the Seminoles, who won despite a season-high 24 turnovers.

"We made turnovers that you really don't get a chance to coach against that type of play because you don't see it very much," Hamilton said. "It was a comedy of turnovers."

Northern led the Golden Eagles with 14 points and 15 rebounds.

Corey Clark

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