Alabama 68, Vanderbilt 63

[January 08, 2014]  TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama 68, Vanderbilt 63: Trevor Releford recorded 16 points, six assists and three steals as the host Crimson Tide held off the Commodores in the SEC opener for both teams.

Shannon Hale and Retin Obasohan each added 15 points for Alabama (7-7, 1-0 SEC), which has won 13 straight SEC home games. Levi Randolph netted 11 points for the Crimson Tide.

Rod Odom notched his first double-double of the season, registering 20 points and 10 rebounds for Vanderbilt (8-5, 0-1), which finished 15-of-17 from the free-throw line. Damian Jones scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds while Kyle Fuller chipped in with 15 points.

Vanderbilt made five of its first eight shots but only held a 16-14 lead after turning the ball over six times in the opening 10 minutes. Releford led all scorers with 14 first-half points and keyed a 16-6 run that put Alabama on top 36-26 at the break.

The Crimson Tide opened up the second stanza with an 8-2 spurt to extend their advantage to 16 before the Commodores made a late charge and pulled to within 61-58 after Fuller's basket with just over three minutes remaining. Obasohan nailed a clutch 3-pointer to stretch the lead to 66-60 with about 1½ minutes left and Releford sank a pair of free throws to seal it.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Releford, who leads the SEC in free-throw percentage, went 8-of-8 from the stripe. … Alabama improved to 43-18 all-time versus Vanderbilt in Tuscaloosa, Ala. … The Commodores won the battle of the boards 32-25.

[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.