Box Score

SARATOGA SPRINGS (February 15, 2008) -- Senior Lawrence Avitabile scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to help Vassar's men's basketball team end a two game Liberty League losing streak and defeat Skidmore, 74-58, Friday night. The Brewers improve to 15-5, 6-4 and will face Union College, a 67-61 winner over RPI, on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 pm.

The win keeps Vassar in playoff contention with a 6-4 league and 15-5 overall record. Skidmore falls to 1-10 and 6-16.

The Brewers opened a 16-point lead, 24-8 in the game's first 10 minutes. Avitabile (Southington, Ct.) scored 10 his team's first 15 points. The Thoroughbreds battled back to within eight, 35-27 on a Jon Douglas (Shutesbury, Mass.) lay-up with 1:01 to play in the first half, but the Brewers countered with a three-pointer by Matt Nunn (Lower Gwynedd, Pa.) to take a 38-27 lead at the half.

In the second half, Vassar maintained a double digit lead, not allowing Skidmore to get any closer than 10 points.

Freshman Jeff Altimar (Medfield, Mass.) led the Thoroughbreds with 14 points. Douglas finished with 12 points and a team-high five rebounds. Ryan Fischer-Werner (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had nine points and five assists.

Nunn and Joe Davis (East Amherst, N.Y.) joined Avitabile in double figures with 10 points each for Vassar. The Brewers out rebounded Skidmore, 42-28 and scored 22 second chance points.