Box Score
HAVERFORD, PA (November 22, 2008) – Freshman Caleb McGraw (Sitka, AK/Mount Edgecombe) scored a career high 25 points, but the Vassar men's basketball team found itself playing catch up all game long against Haverford, and the Brewers could neither even the score, let alone take a lead, and lost their first game of the season, 63-58, in the second game of the Equinox Tournament held at Swarthmore's Tarble Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
The loss leaves the Brewers 3-1 with a home game next against Hartwick on November 26 at 6:00 p.m. Haverford, which lost at the buzzer to Ogelthorpe College on Friday night, improves to 1-1.
Sixteen of McGraw's 25 points came in the final five minutes of the first half, when the Brewers whittled down a 30-20 deficit and were in comfortable position, trailing only 34-33 at intermission. Five of his second half points came in the final 4:28 of the game when Vassar mounted a comeback from a 46-36 hole. With 1:11 to play, McGraw connected on two free throws to bring the Brewers within two points at 60-58. His defensive rebound off a missed Haverford shot with 41 seconds to play gave Vassar a chance to tie the game for only the second time in the contest.
Following McGraw's rebound, the Brewers called timeout. On Vassar's subsequent possession, the Brewers turned the ball over with 31 seconds to play and an immediate foul put the Fords' Chaz Thomas (Huntington, NY/Wyandanch Memorial) at the line. He calmly connected on both attempts for a 62-58 lead, which held. The Brewers had three separate three-point shots in the final 14 seconds go astray, enabling Haverford to secure the victory.
From the last five minutes of the second half to the early stages of the second half, McGraw tallied 16 of Vassar's 19 points. Despite eight straight points courtesy of senior forward Matt Nunn (Lower Gwynedd, PA/Abington Friends) pictured above, from the 8:32 to 6:04 mark of the second half, the Brewers could only remain close, 53-49. A basket leading to a tie or a lead was always evasive. Nunn scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half, but no other Brewers' player managed double figures scoring. Nunn led all rebounders with eight.
Straight out of intermission, Haverford's Sam Permutt (Columbia, MD/Atholton) hit consecutive layups – his fourth straight conversion of a layup – and the Brewers trailed 41-34. Vassar went the opening 4:16 of the second half without scoring, and Haverford took a solid 46-36 lead with 15:04 to play following a layup from Thomas, who finished with 22 points. Permutt, who had seven first half points, finished with 15 points and six rebounds. The Brewers, who shot 59 percent from the floor in the first half, dipped to 44 percent for the game, many of those miscues coming in the opening five minutes when Haverford edged out to its seven, and then ten, point lead.
The Brewers held Haverford scoreless for 3:38 of the second half, but could only draw within five points, 49-44, during this stretch. A key three-pointer by Haverford's Matthew Stitt (Philadelphia, PA/Germantown Friends) with 6:56 proved crucial as it extended the Fords' lead to 53-44. Nunn's layup with 6:04 to play kept Vassar within striking range at 53-49, but the Brewers couldn't get much closer. Freshman Nick Justiz (Old Westbury, NY/Wheatley) connected on a nifty hoop in the paint with 5:22, keeping the score close at 55-51.
McGraw hit a jumper with 4:28 to play, cutting the Haverford lead to 56-53, but the Fords' Greg Rosnik (Langhorne, PA/Neshaminy) and Thomas scored back-to-back baskets for a 60-53 advantage. McGraw's late game heroics proved futile in the end.
Nunn was selected to the Equinox Tournament All-Tournament Team after posting 13.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
