Vanderbilt’s comeback effort falls short in 89-81 loss to Texas A&M

There’s one thing you can say for the 2017-18 Vanderbilt Commodores basketball team: they don’t give up.

Against the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday, Vanderbilt fell behind by 17 points late in the first half, and the Commodores would trail by a score of 72-48 with seven minutes left. But with the game looking to be out of reach, Vanderbilt would go on a 17-3 run over the next four minutes to close within ten — and a layup by the Commodores’ Saben Lee, who finished the day with 19 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists, with 35 seconds left got the Aggies’ lead down to four points.

But Vanderbilt couldn’t complete the comeback, Texas A&M hit its free throws down the stretch, and Vanderbilt came away with a 89-81 loss to drop its record on the season to 11-18, with a 5-11 SEC mark tied for last place in the conference with Ole Miss, who also lost on Saturday.

Lee (19), Riley LaChance (23), and Jeff Roberson combined for 63 of Vanderbilt’s 81 points — and 42 of 50 in the second half.

The Commodores made 14 of 29 three-point attempts on the game but had no answer for Texas A&M’s Tyler Davis, who finished with 22 points on 7-of-10 from the floor. The Aggies shot nearly 60 percent from the floor.

Vanderbilt has one more home game this season on Tuesday against Missouri before the regular-season finale against Ole Miss next Saturday.