Box Score

ONEONTA, NY (November 24, 2009) – The numbers were not kind to the Vassar men's basketball team on Wednesday evening against Hartwick College. The Hawks dominated every column of the statistical sheet and handed the Brewers a 72-53 loss at the Lambros Arena. 

With the loss, Vassar evens its record at 2-2 and next travels to Brandeis on Sunday, November 29 for a 3:00 p.m. game. The Judges (2-1) came into the season ranked No. 22 in the nation according to D3hoops.com, and are coming off a 92-82 loss against UMass-Dartmouth on Wednesday evening. Hartwick (3-1) next faces Skidmore College on December 1. 

The Brewers led just once – 34 seconds into the game – after an old fashioned three-point play by freshman Jon Herzog gave Vassar a scant 3-0 lead. Then the offense sputtered and stalled, went through several extended stretches without scoring, and the Hawks took full advantage. 

Hartwick limited Vassar to just 16 field goals (only three from 3-point range), and a 33 percent field goal percentage for the game. Hartwick forced the Brewers into 18 turnovers and thoroughly dominated the game in the paint, scoring 40 of 72 points from inside, including a 14-1 advantage on second chance points. To compound matters, sophomore guard Caleb McGraw was held to four points – all in the second half – well below his 24.3 point per game average. 

The key turning point came when the Brewers had fought back from a double figures deficit to draw within 27-23 with 4:22 to play in the first half. Hartwick head coach Todd McGuiness, who was a Vassar assistant from 2004-06, called a time out after jumper by junior guard Marvin Smith had momentum swinging in Vassar's favor. Once settled after the timeout, the Hawks were rejuvenated and over the next four minutes went on a 12-2 tear, connecting on two 3-pointers in the flurry for a 39-25 halftime lead. 

The Brewers couldn't make a dent in the Hartwick lead at any juncture in the second half. The Hawks got hot right from the first possession and with just under 10 minutes to play had built a 65-37 lead, keyed by eight points off the bench from sophomore forward Chris Ryder, who was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field in that stretch. 

Freshman forward John Donnelly led Vassar with 17 points and was followed by nine from Herzog, seven from sophomore guard Nick Justiz and six from Smith. McGraw had a team-high seven rebounds. 

Hartwick placed five players in double figures, led by 15 from sophomore guard Mark Blazek, 14 from Ryder, 13 from senior forward Kyle Phillips and 11 each from senior guard Jeff Mantas and junior forward Martin McCann. Outside of Ryder, that group represented Hartwick's starting five and as a team the Hawks shot 49 percent from the field.