Vassar Wins Conference With Victory Over Skidmore

By Steven Merritt

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Sophomore Shea Fitzgerald scored a season-high 29 points as the Vassar College Men’s Basketball team used a second half surge to earn its second straight conference victory with a 82-74 win over Skidmore on the road on Wednesday evening.

The Brewers improve to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in Liberty League play while the Thoroughbreds drop to 3-5 on the season and 0-3 in conference action.

First Half
Following a lay-in from junior Nathan Denham to knot the game at four all, Skidmore went on a 12-2 run, led by five points from Alexei Downie to take a 16-6 lead at the 14:04 mark of the first half.

The Brewers responded with a 9-3 run to cut the lead to 19-15 with 12:02 remaining after a triple from senior Alex Walters and two points each from sophomores Fitzgerald, Avery Lee and Sebastian Medina.

Skidmore’s advantage grew back to nine points following a triple from Downie with 8:22 left in the half and the Thoroughbreds regained its double digit lead on a driving layup from Hakeem Daphnis a minute later at 32-21.

Back-to-back three-pointers from Walters and Fitzgerald, both assisted by sophomore Kreekor Karageuzian, trimmed the lead down to four with 3:10 left in the opening half.A
A bucket from Denham and two free throws from Fitzgerald put the Brewers within three points at the halftime break at 42-39.

The Brewers finished the opening half shooting 43.8-percent from the field, including 3-for-12 from three, and went 8-for-10 from the free throw line.

Skidmore ended the first 20 minutes shooting an even 50-percent overall while finishing 5-for-11 from three-point range and 5-for-7 from the free throw stripe.

Second Half
Medina’s layup to open the second half cut the lead down to one before the Thoroughbreds went on an 8-2 run over the next three minutes to go ahead 50-43.

VC brought the lead down to 54-51 at the 13:18 mark on a triple from senior Luke Adams and the Brewers evened the game at 54 on a three-point play from Karageuzian.

Vassar took its first lead of the game with 10:35 to go in regulation on a jumper from Lee to go ahead 58-56.

The Brewers lead grew to three points at 63-60 on two free throws from Fitzgerald until a three-pointer from Nick Padilla tied the game with 8:22 to go.

Another triple from Padilla regained the Thoroughbreds lead before a dunk from Walters and a driving lay-in from Lee pushed the Brewers ahead 67-66.

Aidan Roy’s floater pushed Skidmore ahead 70-69 with 4:34 remaining until back-to-back triples from junior JP Miranda and Fitzgerald put Vassar up 75-70 with just under three minutes left in the contest.

The Brewers lead expanded to 80-74 on a driving bucket from Lee with 1:05 left in the half while Fitzgerald knocked down two free throws to clinch the 82-74 victory.

Vassar finished the second half shooting 52-percent overall, including 3-for-7 from three, and finished 14-for-16 from the free throw line.

Skidmore cooled to 40.6-percent from the field while going 4-for-15 from three-point range and 2-for-2 from the free throw stripe.

For The Brewers
Fitzgerald poured in a season-high 29 points on 6-for-14 shooting and was a perfect 15-for-15 from the free throw line while chipping in four boards, three assists and three steals.

Lee added 15 points, three rebounds and two steals along with Denham recording eight points, a team-high eight rebounds, two blocks and two assists.

Karageuzian registered eight points and a team-high five assists while Medina finished with six points, five boards, three assists and two steals3

Walters chipped in eight points off the bench while Miranda added five points and four boards off the bench.

For The Thoroughbreds
Joey Skoric recorded a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds and added three blocks while Daphnis tallied 13 points and three assists.

Roy recorded 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals along with Downie adding 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Charlie Fantom chipped in 10 points, four assists and four boards while Padilla added eight points off the bench.