Box Score Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (November 16, 2012) – The Vassar College men's basketball team won their 2012-13 season-opener 69-51 in the opening round of the Tip-Off Tournament against NYU-Polytechnic Friday evening at the Athletic and Fitness Center.

Sophomore forward Alex Snyder recorded a double-double with 17 rebounds and 13 points. He also finished with two assists and a block.

The Brewers (1-0) will next play Hunter College in Saturday's championship game at 4:00 pm. NYU-Poly (0-1) will next face Cazenovia College in Saturday's consolation game at 2:00 pm.

Snyder had three of his 17 rebounds within the first two minutes of play and also was the first to score with back-to-back layups. “Alex worked hard over the summer and this is the kind of player that he wants to be,” head coach Del Harris said. The Brewers increased their lead to nine after junior guard Sam Rappaport hit a turn-and-shoot three.

Vassar enjoyed an 11-point lead in the first half until NYU-Poly's Barkary Diarrassoubba put the Blue Jays on the board with a steal and a layup. Rappaport responded with another three for a 12-point lead.

In a 45-second span, the Brewers got five back-to-back offensive rebounds. The sequence ended when Blue Jay Jason Samuels fouled sophomore forward Luka Ladan. Ladan made both of his free-throws to give Vassar a 22-7 lead.

NYU-Poly didn't hit double-digit scoring until Mark Zientek made his first of two free throws (missed the second) with just under four minutes remaining in the first half. The Brewers went into the half with a comfortable ten-point lead, 26-16.

Senior guard Jon Herzog stepped up in the third minute of the second half, taking a huge charge to keep the score in favor of Vassar 31-22.

Snyder hit his double-double in the eighth minute of the second half off a rebound that gave him 16 rebounds and 11 points. Herzog drained an essential three-pointer with four and a half minutes remaining in regulation to keep Vassar's lead at 54-45.

Herzog stood his ground with just under two minutes remaining as NYU-Poly's Justin Manalo was credited with the offensive foul and again just seconds later as Blue Jay Diarrassoubba was credited with the second offensive foul.

Rappaport scored on a breakaway with 56 seconds remaining and forced the and-one. He hit the free-throw to make the score 66-48. Sophomore guard Curtis Smith scored the Brewer's final three points off of personal fouls and also gave Vassar its biggest lead of the night with 19 points.

NYU-Poly's Jamel Gist hit a free-throw with two seconds remaining, making the final score 69-51.

“It's just good to win our first game,” Harris said. “We're looking forward to a good night's rest and we're excited to go out there and fight for our tournament championship.”

Gist was the Fighting Blue Jays' only player to go double-digits with a game-high 28 points. Diarrassoubba and Stefan Stoyanovich both had double-digits in rebounds.

Junior forward John Donnelly came off the bench to score 12 points and pull in nine boards. Junior forward Evan Carberry also came near to a double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds. He had the game-high three blocks. Herzog had the game-high in assists with three.