Vassar Brewers Fall to the MSMC Blue Knights

By Steven Merritt

NEW PALTZ – The Vassar College Men’s Basketball returned to action for day two of the Hudson Valley Classic as the Brewers fell 82-70 to Mount Saint Mary on the campus of SUNY New Paltz on Saturday afternoon. First year Avery Lee notched a team-high 15 points as Vassar falls to 2-3 on the season and the Knights improve to 1-3 overall.

First Half
Both teams traded buckets early as a jumper from senior Case Parsons put Vassar ahead 8-7 with 16:01 remaining.

Jayden Racca’s layup put MSMC within 13-11 before Lee knocked down back-to-back three-pointers along with a made free throw to give the Brewers a 20-13 lead at the 11:29 mark.

Ryan Graham’s lay-in with 8:40 remaining cut the Vassar lead down to three before a three-pointer from sophomore Sacha Greenberg and a layup from senior Logan Scott pushed the lead back to eight at the 7:37 mark.

The Knights went on 15-0 run over the next five minutes as Jayden Figueroa tallied five points while Connor Cyran added four points to take a 35-28 lead with 2:44 left in the half.

A jumper from Lee and a triple from junior Alex Walters cut the lead down to 35-33 with 1:42 to go before five points from R. Graham to close the half gave the Knights a 40-35 lead.

Vassar ended the half shooting 50-percent from the field and was 5-for-13 from three-point distance while the Knights shot a blistering 56.7-percent overall and 5-for-12 from three-point range.

Second Half
After a bucket from Cyran to open the second half, the Brewers scored eight straight points, led by three-pointers from junior Luke Adams and first year Shea Fitzgerald, to take a 43-42 lead at the 17:52 mark.

The two teams traded leads back and forth over the next six minutes as Lee knocked down a triple to knot the score with 11:34 remaining.

Mount Saint Mary pulled ahead at 67-58 with 5:26 remaining following buckets from Cyran and Figueroa before a triple from Adams cut the lead down to six with five minutes to go.

Four straight points from Cyran pushed the Knights lead to 11 points with 1:22 remaining before knocking down free throws in the final minutes to take its final lead of 82-70.

For The Brewers
Lee finished with 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting, including 4-for-5 from three, and added two assists.

Adams knocked down four triples and tallied 14 points while chipping in five rebounds along with Fitzgerald recording 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Scott registered an all-around night with seven points, eight boards and two assists and Greenberg chipped in eight points.

For The Knights
Cyran poured in a game-high 28 points on 9-for-16 from the field along with eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.

Figureoa added 16 points and eight boards while R. Graham recorded 10 points and two steals.

Jayden Racca chipped in nine points while Justin Rivera added five points and three assists along with Matthew Walsh tallying four points and four assists.

Vassar will be off until they open up Liberty League play against Ithaca at home on December 1.