Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (November 21, 2009) – Facing Richard Stockton, the No. 5 ranked team in Division III, proved a formidable task for the Vassar College men's basketball team, one made increasingly more difficult by a sluggish start and a relentless opponent attack that scored a third of its points off turnovers. In the championship game of the VC Invitational on Sunday at the Athletics & Fitness Center, the Brewers were beaten by the Ospreys, a team that advanced to the national championship game last season, 91-62.

Vassar, now 2-1 on the season, will travel to Hartwick on November 24 for an 8:00 p.m. game. Richard Stockton improves to 3-1 and will next host Widener on November 24.

Richard Stockton had too many weapons for Vassar to handle, most notably pre-season All-America senior guard Santini Lacioni, who scored 20 points in 22 minutes and was named the Invitational Most Valuable Player. The Ospreys placed four players in double figures, getting 15 and 10 points each from All-Invitational selections Omar Smith and Kai Massaquoi and 11 tallies from DiAndre Brown. Those frontcourt players enabled the athletic Richard Stockton team to secure 40 of its 92 points in the paint.

The Brewers fell behind 9-0 just three minutes into the game and couldn't get into a rhythm against the Ospreys, who forced Vassar into 20 turnovers and scored 32 points off those miscues. The closest Vassar could make the contest was 21-15 with 12:58 to play following a 3-pointer from the corner from freshman Jon Herzog. In a matter of six minutes, Richard Stockton went on a 22-4 tear that was buoyed by back-to-back 3-pointers from sophomore guard Pat Kelly and one from Lacioni.

The Brewers trailed 57-30 at halftime and were fighting a 20 point deficit the entire second half.

Sophomore guard Caleb McGraw tried valiantly to shoot the Brewers back into the contest with an 18 point effort, which earned him a spot on the All-Invitational team. Junior center Chris Whitney tallied a career high 10 points and despite scoring only six points, freshman John Donnelly was named to the All-Invitational team, due in large part to his 18 point outing the previous night against Newbury College.

Richard Stockton held a commanding 47-31 rebounding advantage, led by 11 boards from Brown and seven from Massaquoi. Vassar's McGraw chased down a career-high nine rebounds for the Brewers.