Fitzgerald Surpasses 1,000 Career Points

Jan 7, 2026

Shea Fitzgerald tallied a team-high 20 points to cross the 1,000 point threshold and added four steals, two assists and two rebounds. Photo: Carlisle Stockton

ORANGE, CA – Junior Shea Fitzgerald became the first 1,000 point scorer since 2019 on Friday afternoon but the Vassar College Men’s Basketball team suffered a narrow 70-69 lead on the road against Chapman to close the two-game California trip. Fitzgerald marks the 19th Brewer to cross the milestone as the Brewers fall to 6-3 overall while the Panthers improve to 8-3 on the season.

First Half
Following a Cruz Billings lay-in to put Chapman ahead 5-4 early, Vassar answered with 16-0 run over the next seven minutes to take a 20-5 lead at the 10:45 mark.

Six points from sophomore Will Gregory, four points from junior Sebastian Medina and a bucket each from senior Nathan Denham, sophomore Parker Neuenhaus and senior Sacha Greenberg spurred the big run for the Brewers.

Chapman responded with an 8-2 run over the next four minutes to get within 22-13 in the opening half.

Two three-pointers from Fitzgerald along with two lay-ins from Gyasi Zinn increased the VC lead to 32-21.

The Panthers ended the opening 20 minutes on a 7-0 run to cut the Brewers advantage to 32-28 at the half.

Second Half
After a layup from Fitzgerald to put the Brewers ahead 36-32 early in the second half, the Panthers scored six consecutive points to earn a 39-36 lead on a triple from Billings
Five straight points from Fitzgerald and a bucket from Greenberg pushed Vassar back in front 45-41.

Greenberg’s five consecutive points kept VC in front 50-46 until Chapman answered with an 8-0 run to take a 54-50 lead on a three-point play from Billings. Three free throws from Joe

Keegan expanded the Panthers advantage to 60-55 at the 7:11 mark of regulation.

Following a free throw from Heberle with 4:34 remaining, the Brewers rallied to tie the game at 67.

VC went back ahead by a point at 69-68 on a Denham make with two minutes remaining before the Panthers responded with a layup from Billings with just 1:12 to go in regulation to earn a 70-69 advantage.

Neither team was able to score in the final minutes.