The Red and Black

Issue date: 2/7/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: JAKE DANIELS Georgia forward Jeremy Price goes head-to-head with Vanderbilt forward Darshawn McClellan in a game at Stegeman Coliseum Wednesday. Vanderbilt came out on top with a 67-59 win. [Click to enlarge]

The Georgia men's basketball team's SEC hopes continued to spiral downward Wednesday night in a 67-59 loss to No. 23 Vanderbilt at Stegeman Coliseum.

The loss was the Bulldogs' fourth in a row, and the third in which they had a chance to win down the stretch but came up short against a conference foe.

"These last three games, they've had one thing in common. We've had our opportunities to win it going right down to the closing minutes, and we have not managed to make the plays," said head coach Dennis Felton.

Georgia (11-9, 2-5 SEC) had dropped consecutive close games against South Carolina and Kentucky before Vanderbilt's Ross Neltner iced Wednesday's contest in the final minute.

Neltner saved the ball from going out of bounds along the baseline and made a reverse layup to give the Commodores (19-4, 4-4) a 66-59 advantage with 55.6 seconds left.

Georgia guards Terrance Woodbury and Troy Brewer missed 3-pointers on consecutive possessions and Vanderbilt closed it out to pick up its first SEC road win of the year.

The Bulldogs trailed the entire second half, but got within two on a Sundiata Gaines lay-up with 2:31 remaining.

The team proceeded to go scoreless the rest of the way, however, missing its last five attempts from the field.

"(Vanderbilt) definitely seemed like they wanted it more," Gaines said.

"They were more active, more aggressive, more hungry toward the loose balls."

Georgia led 25-21 with 7:32 remaining in the first half, but the Commodores went on a 16-5 run to take a 37-30 advantage into the locker room.

Gaines and Jeremy Price led Georgia in scoring, tying for a game-high 16 points.

Gaines also had 11 rebounds, one off his career-high, to pick up a double-double.

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