Vassar Basketball Earns 74-55 Victory Over Arcadia

By Steven Merritt

GETTYSBURG, PA – All-Tournament team selection sophomore Shea Fitzgerald poured in 26 points and classmate Avery Lee added 14 points off the bench to lead the Vassar College Men’s Basketball to a 74-55 triumph over Arcadia in the second game of the Gettysburg Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday. The Brewers improve to 1-1 overall while the Knights fall to 0-2 on the season.

First Half
Both teams traded early buckets to open the game as Arcadia took a 13-9 lead with 12:39 remaining on a jumper from Josh Parks.

Vassar pulled ahead 23-19 with just under eight minutes left in the half on back-to-back triples from Lee.

The Knights got within one with 3:39 to go in the half on a lay-in from Amyr Walker before Vassar regained a four point lead on a tip-in from junior Nathan Denham.

The Brewers closed the half on a 7-3 run as Fitzgerald scored all seven points to hold a 38-30 lead heading into the half.

Vassar shot 43.6-percent overall while connecting on four triples in the opening 20 minutes.

Arcadia finished shooting 40-percent in the first half while going 6-for-15 from the three-point line.

Second Half
Fitzgerald connected on a three-pointer to begin the second half and a bucket from sophomore Sebastian Median put the Brewers ahead 43-30 at the 18:35 mark.

Arcadia cut the lead to single digits on a layup from Joshua Okocha with 16:55 remaining before the lead grew back to 13 points after two free throws and a jumper from Lee at the 15:58 mark.

Senior Alex Walters three-pointer expanded the lead to 56-41 with 11:26 to go before the Knights whittled the advantage down to 10 on a Josh Parks triple with just under 10 minutes remaining.

Six consecutive points from Fitzgerald pushed the Vassar advantage to 20 points with six and a half minutes to go while a Medina jumper put the Brewers ahead 70-49.

Sophomore Collin France’s jumper with 1:51 remaining put Vassar ahead by a game-high 21 points as the Brewers scored its first victory of the season.

Vassar finished the second half shooting 41.9-percent overall while making two triples and going a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.

Arcadia cooled to 33.3-percent shooting and were just 1-for-12 from the three-point line in the second half.

For The Brewers
Fitzgerald, who was named to the All-Tournament team, scored a game-high 26 points on 9-for-19 shooting and added five rebounds and two steals.

Lee recorded 14 points, three assists and three boards off the bench while Denham added nine points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Sophomore Kreekor Karageuzian handed out a team-high five assists along with classmate Eric Zhang registering four points, three steals and two assists.

For The Knights
Okocha, who was also named to the All-Tournament team, tallied 18 points and nine rebounds while Parks added 10 points, five boards and two assists.

Keenan Reiss chipped in five points, four boards and two assists off the bench while Jamison Lynam tallied six points.

Tymair Smalls recorded two steals and two rebounds along with Debarrin Norman adding four points.