Tyrin Lawrence set a career high with 25 points in leading Vanderbilt to a 71-62 win over Yale at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament on Tuesday evening.

Ezra Manjon added 18 points for the Commodores, who never trailed. Vandy held Yale to 36.4% shooting from the floor.

August Mahoney led Yale (21-9) with 19 points.

Vanderbilt (21-14) will face Michigan—which beat Toledo on Tuesday—on either Saturday or Sunday in Memorial Gym.

Yale cut the lead to single digits at 50-41 for the first time in the second half on Yassin Gharram’s lay-up with 10:23 left. A Danny Wolf 3 cut it to six and then a missed defensive assignment led to Gharram’s wide-open lay-up with 7:52 left before Vanderbilt asked for time out.

Three free throws from John Pouladikas then cut the lead to three.

But Lawrence answered with a three-point play and then a 3 on successive possessions to pus the lead back to nine.

Yale’s Mahoney hit a 3 to get the lead back to six with 2:54 left and it stood at seven.

But the Elis fouled Lawrence on a 3 with 1:34 left. The junior hit two of there foul shots and Yale never got within striking distance again.

The Commodores appeared to shake off the disappointment of not making the NCAA tournament immediately, jumping out to an 11-0 lead.

By half, it was 37-23, with Lawrence and Manjon leading Vanderbilt with nine points each. The Commodores shot 50% from the field in the first half.

Junior Myles Stute, who started 26 games and logged 874 minutes, didn’t play on Tuesday. Stute announced on Monday that he was entering the transfer portal.