Jenkins nets 26 as Vanderbilt holds off Redhawks

Vanderbilt survived a lights-out shooting performance from Miami (Ohio) reserve guard Brian Sullivan behind a hot night from its own John Jenkins, as the Commodores beat the Red Hawks 69-62 at Memorial Gymnasium on Monday evening.

Sullivan blistered the nets for 24 points on 8-of-10 3-point shooting, and kept Miami in the game until the final minutes. But Jenkins countered with a game-high 26 points on 15 shots, as the Commodores kept a lead the entire second half and helped salt it away with four clutch free throws from Brad Tinsley down the stretch.

Tinsley and Jeffery Taylor each had 11 points to round out VU's double-figure scoring.

The Red Hawks pulled to within four with 4:19 left, but Jenkins hit a 2 at the 3:54 mark to give VU some cushion.

A Sullivan 3 later cut the lead to five with 2:34 left, but Tinsley hit a pair of free throws. With the lead at 5 with 38 seconds left, he later hit two more, then did it again in the same scenario with 19 seconds left.