Auburn 62, Tennessee 59

Updated: Jan 29, 2005, 08:41 pm

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Nathan Watson scored 15 points and Quinnel

Brown and Ian Young each added 11 to lead Auburn to a 62-59 victory

over Tennessee on Saturday.

Watson shot 5-of-9 from the field and was perfect in four free

throw attempts for the Tigers (10-9, 1-5 Southeastern Conference),

who won their first league game of the season.

Daniel Hayles added 10 points.

The teams switched leads four times, until Brown's layup with

2:45 remaining sparked a 7-0 run and put Auburn ahead for good.

Tennessee (10-10, 3-4) inched closer within the final 30 seconds

on a pair of free throws and a final 3-pointer by Scooter McFadgon.

C.J. Watson scored a game-high 17 points for the Volunteers, who

played without 6-foot-10 forward Brandon Crump -- the team's leading

rebound and No. 2 scorer. McFadgon added 14 points and Andre

Patterson had 10. McFadgon also had a game-high 9 rebounds.

Crump's absence was quite a blow for the Vols, considering

Auburn has the smallest Division I lineup.

The Vols were able to maintain the lead throughout the first

half, after holding the Tigers scoreless over the first 5 minutes.

Auburn could only tie the score twice in the half, the second time

on Kyle Derozan's layup to make it 28-28 at halftime.

But the Tigers gained momentum after the half, hitting 57.1

percent of their second half shots. Auburn hit 44.2 percent of

their shots overall, holding the Vols to 46.7 percent shooting.