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Foster's big second half lifts Vanderbilt

Feb 24, 2008 - 4:37 AM NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- With Shan Foster continuing to lead the charge, Vanderbilt continued its resurgence.

Foster scored 21 of his 29 points after halftime as No. 16 Vanderbilt used a second-half push to record an 86-74 victory over Georgia in the Southeastern Conference on Saturday.

Alex Gordon had 23 points for the Commodores (23-4, 8-4 SEC East), who won their sixth straight game to remain one game behind Kentucky for second place in the East Division.

While Vanderbilt had been surging, Georgia was going the other way, entering with seven losses in its previous eight games. Still, Commodores coach Kevin Stallings expected a tough challenge.

"Dennis (Felton's) teams always play hard and always play physical and Georgia made shots today also," Stallings said. "That made the game a bit more difficult than we would have liked, but we knew it'd be a difficult game coming in. We got on a roll offensively in the second half and, maybe because of their lack of depth, we were able to wear them down."

Trailing 38-37 at halftime, Foster hit a 3-pointer and a layup during a 13-4 run that gave Vanderbilt a 50-42 advantage with just under 17 minutes remaining.

Although Georgia cut that deficit to five points just over a minute later, Foster ignited a 12-0 run with a layup. He also had two free throws during the spurt, which gave the Commodores a 64-47 cushion with 12:38 remaining.

"Shan missed some wide-open threes, but was phenomenal on offense, especially in the second half," Stallings said.

Those big runs were apart of a sizzling shooting effort in the second half for Vanderbilt, which went 17-of-27 (63 percent) from the field after the break.

"I don't care who were are playing against, I'm never going to be satisfied when our defense is giving up 63 percent shooting from the field," Felton said. "We had a couple of breakdowns defensively (in the opening minutes of the second half) that were just unacceptable and led to quick baskets."

Freshman A.J. Ogilvy capped the run with a three-point play, and finished with 14 points and grabbed six rebounds.

The Bulldogs (12-13, 3-9) got no closer than nine points thereafter in dropping to 0-6 in conference road games.

Foster went 11-of-18 from the field with three 3-pointers en route to his fourth straight game with at least 19 points.

Ross Neltner added 11 points and six rebounds for the Commodores, who improved to 17-0 at home this season.

"They're undefeated in this place and I see why," Georgia guard Billy Humphrey said. "They did catch fire on us. They didn't miss a shot. Foster hit a lot of shots that makes you tip your hat a little bit."

Sundiata Gaines scored 24 points - eight in the second half - for Georgia, which held a 14-0 advantage in bench points.