Late Surge Falls Just Short For Vassar Brewers

TROY – The Vassar College Men’s Basketball made a late surge in the final minutes but the comeback fell short as the Brewers fell 61-58 on the road against RPI on Saturday afternoon. Vassar’s record moves to 15-6 overall and 11-3 in Liberty League play while the Engineers improve to 16-5 on the season and 12-2 in conference action.

First Half
VC opened the game with a 7-3 lead on five straight points from sophomore Parker Neuenhaus and a layup from senior Sacha Greenberg.

A three-pointer from Yechiel Stewart and a lay-in from Andrew Deppe put RPI ahead 11-10 for its first lead at the 13:08 mark.

Vassar regained the lead at 17-13 following a bucket from junior Kreekor Karageuzian and a triple from junior Sebastian Medina with 9:56 left in the first half.

An 11-0 run over the next five points, led by five points from PJ Scalisi and four points from Deppe, gave the Engineers a 24-17 lead at the 4:52 mark.

Vassar battled back to cut the lead to 30-29 on a three-pointer from junior Shea Fitzgerald with 22 seconds left until Kellen Driscoll hit a three with five seconds left to put RPI ahead 33-29 at the half.

VC finished the opening 20 minutes shooting an even 50-percent from the field and connected on 5-for-11 from three-point distance.

The Engineers closed the first half shooting 44.8-percent overall while drilling 7-of-9 from beyond the three-point line.

Second Half
Two free throws from Stewart and a Deppe layup expanded the lead to 42-32 with 14:36 remaining before a three-point play from Fitzgerald cut the lead to eight.

Five points from Nate Tawiah-Boateng and a bucket from Billy Feeks expanded RPI’s lead to 14 at 49-35 with 10:31 remaining.

VC got back within 10 on two free throws from Fitzgerald and a layup from junior Eric Zhang with 8:50 to go.

The Engineers grew its lead to 14 points on back-to-back makes from Deppe before the Brewers made a late charge in the final four minutes.

A lay-in from senior Nathan Denham followed by a Fitzgerald triple with 2:47 remaining put the Brewers back within single digits.

Another lay-in from Fitzgerald followed by a Neuenhaus bucket trimmed the RPI lead down to six with 1:41 left in regulation.

Following a defensive stop, Fitzgerald connected on a three-pointer to reduce the lead to just three with 50 seconds remaining.

Karageuzian forced a steal with 25 seconds left and converted a layup to bring the Brewers within one point.

Driscoll went 2-for-2 from the free throw line with 18 seconds left to give the Engineers a 61-58 lead.

Vassar got several three-pointers off in the final seven seconds but were unable to convert as RPI earned the three-point victory.

VC cooled to 34.5-percent in the second half and converted just 3-for-14 from three-point territory.

RPI finished the second 20 minutes shooting 55.6-percent from the field but went only 1-for-7 from three-point distance.

For The Brewers
Fitzgerald recorded a game-high 23 points and six assists while Neuenhaus tallied 11 points and four boards.

Karageuzian finished with nine points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals along with Denham registered nine points, five rebounds, four steals and two blocks.

Medina added three points, five assists, four boards and two steals.

For The Engineers
Deppe garnered 17 points (8-for-12 FG), five rebounds and two assists while Scalisi totaled 11 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Stewart posted 11 points and four steals along with Feeks adding eight points and three assists.

Driscoll chipped in five points, four assists and three rebounds while Tawiah-Boateng finished with nine points, two assists and five rebounds off the bench.