CANCUN, Mexico (AP)—A.J. Ogilvy scored 25 points to help Vanderbilt beat Virginia Commonwealth 71-66 Sunday night and win the Cancun Challenge championship.
Vanderbilt (5-1) took a 36-27 lead into halftime and led by as many as 13 points in the second half, but VCU (3-3) kept coming back.
Led by Eric Maynor with 31 points, the Rams trailed 68-66 with 1:19 left.
The Commodores sealed the win at the free throw line, hitting 26 of 30 in the game compared to VCU’s 10 of 16.
That made up for the Rams’ advantage in field goals (25 to 19), blocks (7 to 2), steals (14 to 7) and turnovers forced (23 to 16).
Ogilvy was 11 of 16 from the field for Vanderbilt while Jermaine Beal added 14 points and Jeffery Taylor had 10.
Larry Sanders was the only other VCU player in double figures, scoring 10 points.
