Matt Figger made his regular season head coaching debut for APSU on Friday, Nov. 10, against the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville. The regular season opener ended in defeat for the Govs as the Commodores took the victory 73 to 54.

The game was played closer than the final score indicates as the Govs gave the home team a headache until the very end of the game where Vanderbilt saw an explosion of points.

The Govs struck first when freshman Terry Taylor scored the first points of the season on a 3-pointer. Vanderbilt struck right back with a three of their own.

Vanderbilt has now hit a 3-pointer in their past 1,000 games.

The teams traded scores back and forth until the Vandy went on a 23-11 run taking a 41-28 halftime lead.

APSU came back with an 11-5 run of their own in the second half. The run proved to not make a difference as the Commodores pushed back late to take the 19 point victory.

The Govs shot nearly 41 percent from the field but turned the ball over 17 different times throughout the game.

The Govs were able to force 15 Vanderbilt turnovers.

Terry Taylor lead the Govs in scoring in his debut with 15 points and three rebounds, shooting 0.500 from the field. Averyl Ugba had six points.

Chris Porter-Bunton lead the team in total rebounds with four. Tre Ivory and Deyshawn Martin finished with three.

Though the Govs lost, they showed that they could hang against the bigger schools and not back down.

The Govs open up their home season as they host Oakland City on Wednesday, Nov. 15, from the Dunn Center.