ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Freshman Zach Johnson (San Francisco, CA) led the Vassar men's basketball in his collegiate debut, scoring a team-high 14 points and seven rebounds in the season opener. It was Fredonia coming out with the win though, downing the Brewers 64-56 to reach tomorrow's Mike Daley Memorial Tournament championship game.
 
The Devils jumped out to an early 9-0 lead before Hugh Durham (Savannah, GA) knocked down a three at 15:06 to break the streak. Fredonia followed with a trey of their own to take a 12-3 lead.
 
The Devils built to a 13-point lead with 7:30 remaining in the half, but five straight points from Lance Tebay (Virginia Beach, VA) and two layups from Johnson cut it to 21-17 at 3:41. Vassar was able to make it a four-point game when freshman Jack Rothenberg (Yardley, PA) recorded the buzzer beater layup.  
 
Fredonia scored six unanswered to start the second half and took a 37-23 lead with 15 minutes remaining. Freshman Ethan Ellis (Silver Spring, MD) spurred 9-0 run, netting a triple at 14:57. Tebay then connected for the and-one three-point play, and a trey from Avni Mustafaj (Yonkers, NY) made it a 37-32 contest. Mustafaj was able to pull Vassar within four when he made the inside shot at 10:22, which forced a Devils' timeout.
 
A Fredonia three following the timeout put the Devils up seven. Bromfeld answered with a quick bucket, but the Devils went on a 12-4 run right after to take a 53-40 lead. Vassar was unable to mount a comeback with the Devils leading by eight or more points for the remainder of the game.
 
Mustafaj finished behind Johnson with 11 points, while Tebay had ten points and six boards. Bromfeld tacked on nine points with seven rebounds and a team-high five assists. For the Devils, Chase Johnson had a game-high 18 points. Dydy Bryan tallied 17 points and led both teams with nine rebounds.  
 
Vassar now plays in the consolation game tomorrow at 1 p.m. against Hunter. Meanwhile, Fredonia will play host Nazareth in the championship game at 3 p.m.