POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (November 19, 2016) — The Vassar College men's basketball team improved to 3-0 to start the season for the first time since 2008-09 with a 69-65 win over Lehman College on Saturday.
With the win, the Brewers took home the Vassar Tip-Off Tournament title. Lehman claimed second, Johnson State took third and Keuka College finished fourth.
"It was a total team effort," coach B.J. Dunne said. "Sharing the basketball — we preach it every day. We do a ton of passing drills, we talk a lot about spacing. I think our guys really trust each other, and we trust all the guys as a coaching staff to make shots."
The Brewers looked balanced, as five players notched double figures: Jesse Browne (19 points), Owen Murray (11 points, eight rebounds), Mason Dyslin (11 points, seven boards), Mickey Adams (10 points, six rebounds) and Alex Seff (10 points, four assists) led the scoring effort.
"That's something we've prided ourselves on all year, just the balance we have," Dyslin said. "Anyone can go off on one night, and we all just carried each other, making the extra pass. We have a lot of faith in each other. Everyone stepped up and finished their shots."
The game was neck-and-neck in the early goings, featuring two ties and three lead changes over the first five minutes, before the Brewers slowly started to separate themselves. Browne swished home a three to give Vassar its first three-possession lead, 18-11.
The Brewers continued to make shots, as well as stops. About midway through the half, Seff put together an impressive sequence, grabbing a steal before handing off to Browne for a layup in transition, 20-14.
Vassar pushed its lead to as many as nine before Lehman began to close the gap. The Lightning used a 16-5 run to take a 30-28 advantage with three minutes remaining. The rest of the half saw two more ties and a pair of lead changes, as Lehman carried a 34-32 edge into the break.
Both sides continued to grind in the second half. Lehman scored 10 straight points to take a 48-39 advantage before Vassar stormed back with a 15-2 surge for a 54-50 advantage. Hunter Gettings highlighted the run with a triple, thanks to a pass from Murray.
Vassar pushed its lead to 10, 64-54, before Lehman scored eight of the next nine points to cut the margin to 65-62. Browne made it a two-possession game, knocking down a triple with 44 seconds remaining to ice the game.
"It was a fun game to be a part of," Dyslin said. "It went back and forth both ways, both teams hit it and then got hit. It was good to pull out a close win like that against a pretty good team in Lehman College."
Vassar will welcome Martime College to the Athletics and Fitness Center for a midweek matchup on Tuesday, Nov. 22. Tipoff is timed for 6 p.m.
—VASSAR—
