ROCHESTER — Jesse Browne poured in a game-high 26 points, helping the Vassar College men’s basketball team (4-2) to an 85-82 win over Waynesburg University (1-3) on Day Two of the University of Rochester Thanksgiving Tournament on Sunday.
Browne was one of four Brewers to reach double-digit scoring: Mason Dyslin notched a career-best 21 points along with eight rebounds, Alex Seff tallied 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting, adding a game-high six assists, and freshman Kyle Kappes added a career-best 10 points, going 3-of-4 from three-point range.
Dyslin, who had matched his career-best with 16 points against Elmira on Day One of the tournament, was named to the All-Tournament Team. Over the two games, he loaded the stat sheet with a total of 37 points on 57 percent shooting, 14 rebounds and three assists.
The Brewers shot an incredible 48 percent from the floor, 41 percent from downtown and 80 percent from the line, which helped them down the stretch, while the Yellow Jackets shot 48, 48 and 71 percent, respectively.
As for Wasynesburg, four Yellow Jackets notched double figures — Christian Koroly (20 points) and Jon Knab (16) in starting roles, and Kendall Paige (13) and Frank Bozicevic (10) off the bench.
The first half was neck-and-neck, featuring seven ties and 10 lead changes. Neither side led by more than five points at any given time during the period.
Browne broke the first tie, knocking down a triple from Dyslin, but Koroly knotted the game immediately at 13-all with another three-pointer on the other end. Brown remained aggressive — this time, going inside for a layup before knocking down the and-one, giving Vassar a 16-13 advantage.
After going back and forth with the Yellow Jackets, the Brewers held an edge over the final two minutes of the half to take a 46-43 edge into the break.
If the game had been broken up into quarters, Vassar would have led the majority of the third, while Waynesburg would have led the majority of the fourth, notwithstanding the final 1:36 of regulation.
At the 1:36 mark, Seff rolled in a bucket to give the Brewers the lead for good, 81-80. Mattie Mrlik and Browne both knocked down a pair of free throws to sustain Vassar’s advantage, offsetting a layup by Nick Valentic.
Through six games, the Brewers are shooting 47 percent from the floor and 40 percent from beyond the arc. Browne (17.5ppg), Seff (16.5ppg) and Dyslin (12.3) are leading the offensive effort.
Vassar continues its six-game road trip at Williams College (Dec. 1), Wesleyan University (Dec. 7), Skidmore College (Dec. 30) and Union College (Dec. 31) before returning to Poughkeepsie to start the new year with five home games.