CANTON, NY (February 10, 2017) — After six ties and five lead changes, the Vassar College men's basketball team (5-17, 1-12 Liberty) fell to St. Lawrence University (18-4, 11-2 Liberty) on the road Friday, 88-77.
Alex Seff scored 16 points, Mason Dyslin contributed 15 and Jesse Browne had 12 to round out the Brewers' top scorers.
Freshman Owen Murray was incredible on the glass, grabbing 16 boards to help the Brewers out-rebound the Saints, 39-33. Those 16 boards mark the third most single-game rebounds in program history. Murray also added seven points and six assists to his stat line.
The Brewers shot 48 percent from the floor, 48 percent (12-of-25) from deep and 70 percent from the line, while holding the home team to 48, 44 (11-of-25) and 68 percent, respectively.
Kyle Edwards poured in 28 points and Riley Naclerio tallied 21 to lead the Saints in scoring. Dom DeRegis had 12 points off the bench and Ben Crawford finished with 10 in a starting role.
The Brewers came out focused and ready to go, leading for nearly the first five minutes. Edwards hit back-to-back threes for the Saints to give them momentum as well as a 12-8 advantage at the 14:38 mark.
Kappes flipped the lead back in the Brewers' favor, hitting a layup and draining a triple for a 15-14 advantage.
Seff caught fire shortly thereafter, fueling a 9-0 run with a layup and a triple himself. On the Brewers' next possession, Murray gave them their largest lead of the game with a layup, 24-17, about midway through the half.
But once again, the Saints used the three-ball to gain momentum before carrying a 39-36 edge into the break.
St. Lawrence scored the first six points of the second half to quickly separate themselves, 45-36. Seff halted the surge with a layup, but the Saints extended their lead to as many as 15, 57-42, with 13:55 to go.
Vassar responded with urgency, stringing together 10 straight points to pull within 57-52. Mattie Mrlik and Browne capped the run with back-to-back threes.
The Saints maintained at least a two-possession lead until Dyslin knocked down a pair from the line to make it a three-point game, 66-63, at the 6:45 mark. The Brewers pulled within three twice more on Seff's jumper, 68-65, and Tony Caletti's triple, 71-68.
Caletti continued to find the bottom of the net, connecting on a layup to make it a two-point game, 72-70, with about three minutes remaining. Dyslin hit a jumper about 30 seconds later to make it a 74-72 ballgame, but that was the closest the Brewers came to flipping the lead, as they were outscored 14-5 the rest of the way.
Vassar stays on the road to face Clarkson University on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 4 p.m.
—VASSAR—
