Brewers Fall In Liberty League Road Test

TROY – Three Brewers reached double figures in the scoring column, as the Vassar College men’s basketball team (5-11, 1-7 Liberty) fell on the road against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (10-6, 4-3 Liberty) at the East Campus Arena on Tuesday, 69-58.

Alex Seff paced the Brewers across the board with 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists; Jesse Browne added 13 points with a trifecta of triples; and Tony Caletti finished with a season-high 12 points off the bench, as Vassar’s bench outscored RPI’s 20-13.

The Brewers shot 40 percent from the floor and 19 percent (4-of-21) from three-point range, while the home team shot 53 and 50 percent (10-of-20), respectively.

Jonathan Luster poured in 23 points with three triples, while Andreas Kontopidis added 20 points with three triples to help the Engineers snap a two-game skid.

Playing on the road for the first time since a five-game homestand, the Brewers fell behind early. Seff and Browne scored the first three field goals for Vassar, as RPI jumped out to a 17-7 lead within the first five minutes.

The Brewers responded with an 11-2 spurt to pull within one. Mason Dyslin, who finished with six points and five rebounds, kickstarted the run with back-to-back buckets — a jumper and a layup — before Browne fueled the burst with a layup and a three-pointer. Steve Palecki, who notched a career-high 13 points in Vassar’s previous outing against St. Lawrence University, capped the run with a layup at the 11:59 mark, 19-18.

The Engineers put an end to the Brewer run with back-to-back triples from Asa Barnhill and Kevin Davis, 25-18. Vassar remained competitive throughout the rest of the half, as RPI carried just a four-point lead into the break, 31-27.

Just like Seff had done in the first half, he jumpstarted the Brewer offense in the second, connecting on their first two field goals to pull within 33-31.

The game remained close, as the Brewers pulled within one three times thereafter. Mickey Adams made it a 47-46 ballgame about midway through the half, but that was the closest the Brewers came to flipping the lead.

RPI strung together 13 straight points before Caletti drove to the basket for a layup at the 3:49 mark, 60-48. The Engineers led by double figures for the remainder of the game.