Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (November 15, 2008) – In what will certainly be a long and successful head coaching career for new Vassar men's basketball coach Del Harris, there will be games that test his nerves, and the season opener against Southern Vermont falls into the gut-wrenching category. Leading by 13 points with nine minutes to play, the Brewers withstood a furious Mountaineers comeback that saw the visitors whittle the lead down to a basket with under a minute remaining, before displaying enough savvy to hang on for a 65-62 victory at the Athletics & Fitness Center on Saturday afternoon.

Vassar opens 1-0 for the second straight year and will travel to Drew University on Tuesday, November 18 for a 7:30 p.m. game. Southern Vermont, which saw its last ditch three-point shot to tie the game by sophomore guard Lance Spratling sail over the rim, drops its opener and will play in the Williams College Invitational on November 21.

In a game that marked the debut of Harris and the playing one of freshman guard Caleb McGraw  who led the Brewers with 17 points on 4-for-8 shooting from three-point distance, it was timely play by senior guard Lenny Holt, who helped lift the Brewers from a first half of jitters to a second half double digit lead and victory.

“We have a long way to go, but I am proud of the effort,” said Harris. “These are the games that the 2008-09 team is going to have to win. We're going to play a lot of close games like this. We have to learn from this game and keep finding ways to win.”

The Brewers led 31-29 at halftime. To start the second half, Holt figured in three of his team's first four baskets to push the Brewers ahead 40-35. His opening layup was followed by a three-pointer from the left side and a nifty assist in transition to senior guard Brian Butterworth. Those quick eight points enabled the Brewers to take only their third lead of the game, but one that held despite being outrebounded 55-35 by the hustling and battling Mountaineers, who managed 28 rebounds on the offensive end.

Leading 40-33 with 17:02 remaining, the Brewers went scoreless for the next 3:47, but Southern Vermont's cold shooting during this scoreless Vassar stretch could only draw them within two points at 40-38, following a three-pointer by junior guard Emory Wheeler with 13:59 to play.

At this point, Vassar's offense found its rhythm, ignited by a driving layup by senior forward Joe Davis. That basket spurred an 11-1 run in which four Brewers' figured into the scoring, including McGraw, sophomore center Chris Whitney and senior forward Matt Nunn, whose layup circled around the rim for a 51-38 Vassar lead, prompting a Southern Vermont timeout to halt that scoring spree and end its own 5:05 minute scoring drought.

With tenacious play inside and relentless play off the backboard, the Mountaineers gradually cut into Vassar's lead, and had Southern Vermont been able to shoot better than 35 percent in the second half, the visitors would have easily erased the Vassar lead. As it was, the play of freshman Deandre Kennedy-Ebron, who led all scorers with 22 points, and the rebounding of junior Joe Karnik, who had 11 in the game, was enough to overcome the Mountaineers' shooting woes and close the gap to 56-50 with 5:37 to play.

A Holt jump shot 50 seconds later gave the Brewers a 58-50 lead, but baskets by freshman Ben Naaktgeboren, Wheeler, Spratling and a powerful dunk by Karnik down the stretch narrowed the Vassar lead to 64-62 with 42 seconds remaining. With ball possession and the chance to tie the game at 64, Vassar's Butterworth drew an offensive charge on Spratling. Brewers freshman guard Nick Justiz was then fouled and connected on one of two free throws sandwiched in between a Southern Vermont timeout, intended to ice him, for the 65-62 victory.

Understandably, given the season opener, both teams were nervous and tight in the first half, with Southern Vermont jumping out to an early 11-3 advantage. Vassar went on an 8-0 run following a Nunn three-pointer for its first lead at 14-13, and went ahead 29-27 after Holt connected on a driving layup.

The Brewers had balanced scoring, placing four players in double figures. McGraw had 17 and Davis, who tallied 20 points against Southern Vermont last season, finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds. On the strength of 5-of-6 from the floor, Holt had 13 points and Nunn added 10 points, all of which came when the Brewers needed a scoring boost.

Southern Vermont got 14 hard-earned points and nine rebounds from Spratling. Karnik had 12 points, all of which came in the paint, and five of his 11 rebounds came off the offensive glass.