Box Score

WILLIAMSBURG, VA (December 19, 2009) – The daunting task of facing its first Division I opponent in 13 years was not lost on the Vassar men's basketball team, which fell to the College of William and Mary 94-48 at Kaplan Arena Saturday afternoon. The silver lining for the Brewers, however, was the play of freshman guard Jon Herzog who scored 13 of Vassar's 21 first half points, finished with a team-high 18 points, and proved his mettle against one of the nation's top-25 DI teams. 

The Brewers end the semester with a 2-7 record and will return to action on January 8 with a home game against Ramapo College at 7:00 p.m. William and Mary, which was playing its first game in 14 days after upsetting defending Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) champion Virginia Commonwealth University, improves 7-2 and next travels to Radford on December 22 for a 7:00 p.m. game. 

Herzog was impressive for the Brewers, posting his third straight double figures scoring game with 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field. Sophomore backcourt mate Caleb McGraw came alive in the second half to finish with 17 points. 

The William and Mary contest was the first time that Vassar had faced a Division I opponent since a 92-52 loss against Army on November 26, 1996. The Tribe, which has a history of scheduling one Division III opponent each season, is off to its best start since the 1977-78 season and is currently ranked No. 20 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. In each of the last two weeks, the Tribe has received votes in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Top 25 polls. 

With William & Mary coming off exams following a 14-day layoff and the Brewers trying to shake off the doldrums of a six-game losing streak, the first nine minutes of the game was competitive. A spinning move in the lane by Herzog with 11:16 to play cut the William and Mary lead to 12-6, making the game interesting. But the Tribe dipped into its deep and talented bench, which scored 50 of the teams 94 points, and got a phenomenal lift from 6-foot-8 sophomore forward JohnMark Ludwick who had 16 first half points on 5-5 shooting from the field in only ten minutes of action. Four of those field goals came from 3-point range and spearheaded a 12-0 Tribe run over a 2:26 minute span, increasing the William and Mary lead to 24-6 before a jumper by McGraw got the Brewers back on the board with 8:29 to play until intermission. 

Ludwick's 16 points and William and Mary's 53 percent shooting from the field prompted an easy 48-21 hafltime lead. William and Mary jumped all over the Brewers to start the second half, making the game all-but academic. Behind the tenacious play of 6-foot-7 senior guard Danny Summer, who had 13 of his 15 points in 4:47 span of the second half, including back-to-back dunks, the Tribe went on a 21-4 burst in the opening five minutes to increase the lead to 69-25. 

The Brewers rebounded nicely following Summer's devastating play, going on an 8-0 run in a 90-second span following a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Nick Justiz, a lay-in by junior center Chris Whitney and a 3-pointer by McGraw. That brought the score to 69-33, but the point deficit and powerful opponent were far too great to overcome. 

Ludwick led William & Mary with 21 points, connecting on 7-of-8 shots from the field. Summer finished with 15 points and sophomore guard Kendrix Brown had 10 points. The Tribe shot 55 percent from the field and all 12 players figured into the scoring column. William & Mary outrebounded Vassar 43-20. Freshman forward John Donnelly had four rebounds for the Brewers, while the Tribe got six rebounds each from 6-foot-10 center Steven Hess, 6-foot-9 forward Marcus Kitts and 6-foot-7 forward Kyle Gaillard.