LAKE BUENE VISTA, Fla. -- De'Mon Brooks
scored 19 points and Davidson beat Vanderbilt 75-62 on Thursday in the
first round of the Old Spice Classic.
Nik Cochran and Jake Cohen added 14 points each for Davidson (2-2).
Kedren Johnson had a career-high 28
points for Vanderbilt (1-2). The Commodores, coming off a 78-48 loss to
Oregon, also got 14 points from Kyle Fuller.
Baskets by Brooks and Chris Czerapowicz
put Davidson ahead 57-52. The Wildcats, keyed by Clint Mann's dunk and a
3 by Cochran, scored the next nine points and increased their lead to
66-52 with 6 minutes remaining.
Davidson will play West Virginia in a
winner's bracket game Friday. Vanderbilt will play Marist, which lost
87-44 to West Virginia.
Johnson had a three-point play and hit a
3-pointer helping Vanderbilt get within 35-33 early in the second half.
His three-point play gave the Commodores a 49-48 advantage with 12
minutes to go.
Cochran and Cohen had nine points each as Davidson took a 33-25 halftime lead.
Jordan Barham had a fast-break slam and
a pair of layups to put Davidson up 31-25 with 51 seconds left in the
half. Cohen made it 33-25 with a rebound basketball just before the
buzzer.
Barham wound up with nine points.
Cochran's third 3-pointer got Davidson,
which trailed by six early on, to 16-14. The senior guard entered
averaging 3.3 points this season.
Johnson's previous career best was 25 points against Nicholls State on Nov. 10.
