ROCHESTER, NY (January 22, 2016) — The Vassar College men's basketball team trailed a mere 1:16 in the entire 40-minute contest on its way to pushing past Rochester Institute of Technology, 74-63, on the road Friday.
Freshman
Paul Grinde (Virginia Beach, VA/Cape Henry Collegiate School) earned his fourth double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds, as one of four Brewers to score in double digits.
Erikson Wasyl (Durham, CT/Coginchaug) poured in a game-high 21 points,
Jesse Browne (Barrington, RI/Deerfield Academy) added 14 and
Mickey Adams (Boston, MA/St. Sebastian's School) chipped in with 11.
Such a dominating win led to multiple advantages on the stat sheet. Both Vassar (7-8, 3-3 Liberty) and RIT (8-8, 4-3 Liberty) shot about 45 percent from the floor, but the Brewers edged them from the charity stripe, shooting 9-of-13 to the Tigers' 3-of-8.
The Brewers also out-rebounded their opponent for the fourth consecutive game, 31-24.
But perhaps the most crucial comparison came down to turnovers. The Brewer defense forced turnovers all night — and more importantly, they capitalized off of them to score 12 points off the Tigers' 11 giveaways. Meanwhile, RIT scored just four off of Vassar's five.
AJ Horde scored a team-high 19 points for the Tigers, while Kamron Davis finished with 10.
To start things off, Adams scored the first five points for the Brewers, to put them ahead for the rest of the half. But the Tigers' wouldn't go away, keeping them within two possessions the entire period.
The Brewers took a 34-31 lead into the break, but the Tigers came out scoring two consecutive baskets to get their first lead since the first minute of the first half.
Vassar quickly responded with a 16-6 surge to take a nine-point, 50-41, advantage with 13:31 remaining in regulation. The Tigers would get within one point once, but the Brewers took their largest lead, an 11-point differential, twice within the final minute.
The Brewers hope to keep their momentum going Saturday when they face the Hobart College Statesmen in Geneva, NY at 4 p.m.
—VASSAR—