Vanderbilt rallies to beat No. 21 South Carolina
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Matthew Fisher-Davis scored 17 points and Riley LaChance had 14 to help Vanderbilt beat No. 21 South Carolina 71-62 on Saturday night.
The lead changed hands nine times during a frantic second half before the Commodores (14-13, 7-7 Southeastern Conference took the lead for good at 55-54 on Fisher-Davis' free throw with 7:54 left.
The Commodores led by a point with 4:27 left, and used a 7-0 surge to pull away.
Sindarius Thornwell led the slumping Gamecocks (20-7, 10-4) with 21 points and had six rebounds. South Carolina lost for the third time in four games, going more than nine minutes without a field goal at the end of the game.
Nolan Cressler scored 13 points for the Commodores, who hit nine shots from beyond the arc against the nation's top 3-point defensive team.South Carolina went 1 for 9 from 3-point range.
P.J. Dozier added 15 points, and Chris Silva scored 14 for the Gamecocks.
BIG PICTURE
South Carolina: The Gamecocks are third in the SEC standings, two games behind Florida and Kentucky. Each team has one game left against the other before the regular season ends. South Carolina is trying for its first conference title in 20 years and second overall. The Gamecocks have four games remaining.
Vanderbilt: The Commodores started the day tied for eighth with Georgia in the SEC.
SPECIAL UNIFORMS
Vanderbilt wore Black History Month uniforms to honor 21 of Nashville's leading civil rights figures in the Commodores' Equality Weekend game.
The honorees included Ed Temple, John Seigenthaler and Perry Wallace.
Temple coached Tennessee State's women's track and field team to 34 national titles and coached the U.S. Olympic women's team in 1960 and 1964.
Seigenthaler was a Tennessean editor and publisher and U.S. Justice Department administrative assistant to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Seigenthaler was chief negotiator with the Alabama governor during the Freedom Rides in 1961.
Former Commodores Wallace and Godfrey Dillard were the first black basketball players in the Southeastern Conference in 1966.
UP NEXT
South Carolina visits Florida in a crucial battle for the SEC title Tuesday night.
Vanderbilt travels to Tennessee on Wednesday night. The Commodores fell to the Volunteers 87-75 on Jan. 14.