ST. LOUIS -- Riley LaChance made three of four from 3-point range with 19 points as Vanderbilt jumped ahead early and held on to beat Saint Louis 70-55 on Wednesday .
James Siakam's dunk with 3:13 left capped an 8-0 run for Vanderbilt (9-3) that put the game comfortably out of reach at 64-49.
Saint Louis (8-5) trailed 50-33 midway through the second half but rallied with a 14-4 run to get back within seven.
LaChance was 7 of 9 from the field with seven rebounds and four assists. Damian Jones added 15 points and six rebounds for the Commodores.
Achraf Yacoubou and Austin McBroom both had three 3-pointers and 15 points to lead the Billikens. Milik Yarbrough added 13 points.
The Commodores took control in the first half with a 27-14 lead with 7:14 remaining and finished the period shooting 59.6 percent. Saint Louis scored the last five points of the half, including one of Yacoubou's 3-pointers in the final seconds, to get the deficit down to 33-26.
After Vanderbilt's Jeff Roberson opened the second half with a layup, McBroom hit a 3 to get the Billikins as close as they would get the rest of the way at 35-29.
The Commodores shot 54.3 percent for the game with 6 of 11 from 3-point range and outrebounded Saint Louis 39-26.
The Billikins shot only 31.0 percent in the second half and 3 of 14 from long distance.
TIP-INS
Vanderbilt: Sophomore F Damian Jones is off to a great start. His 15 points and six rebounds on Wednesday came just short of his season averages of 16.5 points and 7.1 rebounds.
Saint Louis: Junior G Austin McBroom entered the game shooting 25 of 51 from 3-point range. His 3-for-6 performance kept him one shot shy of the 50 percent mark for the season.
UP NEXT
Vanderbilt finishes its nonconference schedule by hosting Yale to on Saturday.
Saint Louis hosts Rhode Island to open Atlantic 10 play for both teams on Saturday.
