GENEVA, NY (February 16, 2018) – The Vassar men's basketball team was unable to hang on in the final minutes as No. 21 Hobart came back late for a 79-74 win over the Brewers on Friday night.

Vassar was looking for their first win in Geneva and nearly had it, leading by two with just under two minutes to go. Paul Grinde had a monster night with 23 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and two blocks. Jesse Browne also reached the 20-point plateau as he recorded 21 points and six rebounds. Freshman Zach Bromfeld continued his excellent play with a near double-double at 12 points and nine boards.

Hobart held a seven-point lead just seven minutes into the contest. Vassar responded with a quick six points to bring the game within one point. Grinde, Owen Murray, and Mason Dyslin all converted layups for the Brewers quick six-point run.

At the 9:27 mark, Lance Tebay knocked down a triple to give the Brewers their first lead of the night at 21-20. Hobart took the lead on the next possession and held on to that through the halftime break. The Statesmen were able to build a six-point lead heading into the break.

The Brewers saw themselves in an early hole as Hobart extended their lead to 10 points at the 13:32 mark of the second half. But a 10-0 scoring run over the next four minutes had the game knotted at 54-54. The game was again tied at 56 and 58 before Browne knocked down a trifecta to put Vassar up by three.

Vassar maintained that lead for the next six minutes until Colin Dougherty hit a three-pointer for the home side for a 74-73 lead. With under a minute to play, the Brewers were forced to foul to stop the clock and Hobart went on to hit five of six from the charity strip to maintain their advantage.

The Brewers shot well all around on Friday night with a 0.452 percentage from the field, 0.429 from three, and 0.818 at the free throw line.

Vassar heads to Ithaca on Saturday afternoon to take on the Bombers at 4:00 p.m. in their final regular season game.