NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Vanderbilt's Tyrin Lawrence scored 13 of his season-high 22 points in the first half, leading the Commodores (5-8) to a 69-53 win over Dartmouth (4-9) on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium.

Ezra Manjon's 23 were a game high, with 19 coming in the second half. The senior helped Vanderbilt keep a double-digit lead late, scoring the Commodores' final 13 points.

"Ez brings it every night," coach Jerry Stackhouse said afterwards.

Vanderbilt was sluggish for much of the first half and trailed by as many as five but took the lead for good on Jason Rivera-Torres's short jumper in the paint with 2:33 left in the first half and never trailed again.

Dartmouth’s 7:06 field goal drought to end the first half cracked the door for a Commodore rally, which Lawrence punctuated with a buzzer-beating, step-back 3 to end the half and give Vanderbilt the largest lead for either team (31-23) at the break.

The Commodores kept up the defensive effort and thanks to just six turnovers and 41.9% shooting, were good enough that Dartmouth never challenged after halftime.

Following a close loss at Memphis, it's Vanderbilt's best back-to-back efforts of the season--just in time for next week's conference opener vs. Alabama on Jan. 6, which will be in Nashville.

"It still says we're playing well but I'd like to play well with more of our pieces that we have," Stackhouse said of a team that spent much of November and December at less than full health.

The Commodores haven't gotten what they hoped from Lawrence, a preseason second-team All-Southeastern Conference pick. The senior came in averaging 12.0 points per game on 36.8% shooting and had scored in single digits in three of eight contests coming in.

On Saturday, Lawrence hit 7-of-16 shots from the floor in eclipsing his previous season-high of 21 against NC State. His 21st and 22nd points came on free throws with 8:53 left, at which point Manjon took over.

Lawrence explained the breakout by a run of good practices recently.

“Just going into tonight, I’ve been pretty good in practice and been able to get more of a rhythm.” Lawrence said.

His coach said health had a lot to do with it. Lawrence started the season with a foot injury that cost him the first four games of this season.

"We put these little Catapults on them to show how much effort they're giving out in practice and he was in the red yesterday, so I thought he was going to have a good game today," Stackhouse said, adding later, "He's had some nicks and stuff and I don't think he's been 100%."

An honest discussion of Vanderbilt's defense has to start with a mention that Dartmouth ranked 348th in Ken Pomeroy's adjusted offensive efficiency. But for context, the Big Green also played much of December with at least one of its four-leading scorers missing, and played much of that time with its two-leading scorers--Brandon Mitchell-Day (10.9 ppg) and Dusan Neskovic (16.8)--each sidelined simultaneously for four games.

With the Big Green closer to full strength and leading much of the first half, Vanderbilt got the stops that gave it separation. And in the end, the Commodores allowed a season-low in points, something Vanderiblt certainly wanted to see heading into SEC play.

"Just flying around, man," Lawrence said when asked why the defense was better. "I think as the season's gone on, we've been more connected on that end, talking more. I think it starts with Ezra flying around and providing energy and effort and the other guys followed."

"The last couple of games, we've felt we've been taking big strides on the defensive end," Manjon said. "It's been showing and we've been right there and things are starting to come together on that end.

"That's kind of where it starts. It leads to offense."

When Mitchell-Day hit a layup with 7:06 left in the half, it would be the last field goal Dartmouth got until Mitchell-Day hit another with 16:25 left in the game.

By that point Vanderbilt led by nine and wouldn't trail again.

"The last couple of games, there's been an uptick for us," Stackhouse said. "We've been doing some positive things on the defensive end and the offense has been pretty good, too."

The injury-plagued Commodores played without their best remaining front-court player in Ven Allen Lubin, who sat on the bench in warmups, as well as backup guard Isaiah West.

Lubin suffered a groin injury before last Saturday’s Memphis game and was a game-time decision for that one. Lubin played five minutes in the first half of that one before sitting out the second half this Saturday.

"He's a big part of who we are," Stackhouse said of Lubin, adding he thinks there's a chance Lubin will be back for the Alabama game.

"He's been feeling better, obviously had a little setback in the game and so we wanted to be a little extra cautious with that one. ... I think the smart thing for us was to give him a little more time because he's a load when he's healthy with the things he can do for us" Stackhouse said.

Carter Lang started in Lubin’s place, marking the seventh time the freshman has started this season.

Lang picked up a second foul with 8:18 left in the first half, necessitating playing time for Graham Calton, who’d played 12 minutes this season coming in.

West also sat on the bench with a boot on his left foot, marking the second game the freshman's missed, the other being the Dec. 2 Alabama A&M game.

"We had a nice little eight-man rotation going into the Memphis game and then we lose Isaiah," Stackhouse said. "... in practice he's been dealing with some plantar fasciitis and he actually had a tear and he's out two-to-four weeks."

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