VU men roll over St. Francis, 84-55

Jeffery Taylor and the Commodores rolled over St. Francis on Wednesday. Mike Strasinger for The City Paper

The Vanderbilt basketball team celebrated early on New Year's Eve with an 84-55 blowout win over St. Francis on Wednesday.

And the Commodores didn't even need A.J. Ogilvy.

Ogilvy sat out the game with what coach Kevin Stallings described as "a bone bruise" in his foot. The 'Dores didn't notice his absence.

Guard Jermaine Beal scored 17 points and Brad Tinsley poured in 15 in the win. Jeffery Taylor had 13 points and Lance Goulbourne added 10.

"Jermaine kind of led the way and got us going," Stallings said. "He's shooting the ball so well."

VU got out to a 20-9 lead with about 10 minutes left in the first half. The 'Dores led 44-30 at halftime and built the lead to 52-34 behind baskets from Tinsley and Beal.

Tinsley scored seven points in a nine-point run later in the second half that ran the lead to 68-44.

The attendance was 12,496, apparently due to the 11 a.m. start time to accomodate Vanderbilt fans who wanted to attend both the basketball game and the Music City Bowl.

"This is definitely football's day," Stallings said. "I'm hoping big-time they get the win. I'm looking forward to going down there and watching some of it."

Of course, Stallings got his wish as the Commodore football squad won the Music City Bowl 16-14.