POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (November 14, 2012) – The Vassar College men's basketball team returns ten experienced players this year with hopes of building upon last year's foundation they had set.

The Brewers open up the 2012-13 season hosting the Vassar Tip-Off Tournament this Friday and Saturday. Hunter College faces Cazenovia College on Friday at 6:00 pm. The Brewers play NYU-Poly at 8:00 pm. Saturday's consolation game will be at 2:00 pm and is followed immediately by the championship game at 4:00.

“Everytime we set foot out on the court, we want to get better,” head coach Del Harris said. “We'll try to get off to a good start, protect our home court. It is the first time our home crowd will see us so we want to put a good product on the floor.”

Guard Jon Herzog is the only senior this year and one of three returning starters. Herzog started in 23 out of 25 games last season. He averaged 11.1 points per game with a season-high 22 points against Clarkson University on February 10.

“We're going to go as far as Herzog takes us,” Harris said. “He's our senior co-captain and is a guy who has unfortunately dealt with injuries early in his career. This is also the guy who, as a freshman, had 18 points against William and Mary [Division I]. He was an All-League performer when we won on the road at St. Lawrence and Clarkson.”

The Brewers also return junior forward Evan Carberry. Carberry started as a sophomore last season and scored his season high against St. Lawrence University on January 27. He played his best defensive game against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on February 7 when he pulled down eight defensive rebounds and added another three offensive ones.

“Evan is another guy who can play at an All-League level,” Harris said. “He is one of those guys who will help us get over that competitive edge to the point where we're not just competitive, but we're also making an impact.”

Carberry is the other co-captain this season.

After spending a year away from the Vassar team, junior forward John Donnelly returns. Donnelly finished his freshman season second on the team with 262 points and first on the team with 33 steals. He also led the team in rebounds with 132. “Donnelly is back, he's in shape, he's focused and he's a big addition to the team,” Harris said.

Sophomore forward Alex Snyder also highlights the returning players. His freshman performance landed him on the Liberty League All-Rookie Team last year. Snyder led the Brewers in rebounds, averaging 5.8 per game. Snyder had 14 blocks last season, which was also a team-best. “Snyder had a really good off-season and is in great shape,” Harris said.

“We're real heavy in the sophomore and junior class,” Harris said. “We have a good level of experience. We have guys who have played in a lot of games. We only have three freshman and they are coming in as role-players. Last year we had seven freshmen and they had to come in and be impact players right away.”

With a team that is confident and comfortable, Harris and the Brewers new coaching staff of assistant coach B.J. Dunne and volunteer assistant coach James McClendon can work on fine-tuning the players.

The team efforts will go towards demonstrating that the Brewers have a defensive mind set throughout the season and with a particular focus on the Liberty League schedule. “We have multiple guys who can put it in the bucket,” Harris said. “We are a versatile basketball team, but it is going to come down to who can make the stops. In the successes we did have last year against better teams, we won three out of our last five games down the stretch and we hope that momentum will carry into this season.”

Vassar brings a lot of speed to the court with their guards while also allowing them to play the “big-man” roles as well.

“We want our guys to be complete players and not just another position,” Harris said. “We want to be able to switch our players around as much as possible to the point where one of our 6'4” or 6'6” guys can take the ball down the court and our guards will take the post. Versatility is the big word this season.”