Box Score

ANNANDALE-ON-THE-HUDSON, NY (November 28, 2007) -- Senior Tyson Brazell scored 18 points on 8 of 10 shooting from the floor and was named MVP of the Hudson Valley Shootout, leading Vassar's men's basketball team to a 73-61 victory over Mount St. Mary, to claim the championship for a fourth straight year.

For Brazell, it was his second MVP selection in the last seven games. He was named MVP of the 2007 ECAC Upstate Tournament after scoring 28 points and leading the Brewers to the championship over Oswego State, 66-65. On Wednesday night, he was near perfect, scoring 16 of his 18 points on 8 for 10 shooting from the field, and added six rebounds and a steal. With the game at crunch time late in the second half, Brazell was equal to the task, hitting a pair of big baskets, the first coming off a big steal off a pass from Mount St. Mary guard Chris Harrison.

Also added to the Hudson Valley Shootout All-Tournament Team was fellow senior Lawrence Avitabile -- last year's MVP -- who scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. For Avitabile, it was the 67th time in 78 games that he has scored in double figures.

The Brewers (5-1) have now won four straight games, and ostensibly won the game in the first half after racing out to a 41-28 halftime lead after shooting 56 percent from the field and 62 percent from 3-point distance.

The Brewers trailed 6-2 five minutes into the game, but evened the contest at 6-6 on a layup by Brazell and increased the lead to 26-12 (a 20-6 run) that ended on a jumper in the paint from sophomore Matt Gertenbach. During that game-changing run, in a seven minute time span, six different Brewers scored, including 3-pointers by senior Danny Forcella and juniors Brian Butterworth and Joe Davis. For the game, Davis had 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting, Butterworth tallied 11 points, all his tallies coming from 3-point distance.

Vassar closed out the half on another run of sorts, a methodical workmanlike effort, building a 33-19 lead with 2:52 to play on a jumper from sophomore Andy McKenzie, one of 13 Brewers who played in the contest.

The second half was largely even in terms of points scored by each team, but Mount Saint Mary was clearly mounting a comeback effort and effectively cut into the Vassar lead. With 10:24 remaining, the Blue Knights had whiddled the margin down to four points, 54-50, following a 3-pointer by Alex Kuchar. A layup by Mount's Chuck Morris with 7:51 to play brought to game to its closest point, 57-54, with 7:51 remaining.

Consecutive baskets by Vassar's Davis, Brazell, junior Lenny Holt and a pair of free throws by Buttworth, provided the Brewers with some breathing room, 65-57, with 4:48 to play. Brazell earned his MVP status by following that sequence of points with a steal and a layup for a 10-point, 67-57 lead at the 4:29 mark, that held up nicely from that point.

Two free throws by Avitabile and another jumper by Brazell with 3:10 to play essentially sealed the game, 71-59.

Mount St. Mary got a game-high 19 points from Chris Harrison, 11 points from Matt Weinberger and 10 points each from Tim Morris and Kuchar.

The Brewers have two more games this week, the first at the AFC against New York City Technical College on Saturday at 2:00 pm. On Sunday, Vassar heads to Southern Vermont for a 4:00 pm game, the last of this semester.