POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The freshmen trio of Avni Mustafaj (Yonkers, NY), Kevin McAuliffe (Bethesda, MD), and Jack Rothenberg (Yardley, PA) all scored career-highs, but the Vassar men's basketball team ultimately fell 103-80 to Ithaca on Saturday afternoon. The Brewers now slip to2-4 overall and 0-2 in the Liberty League, while the Bombers move to 4-1 and 2-0 in the conference.

Ithaca came out on a 7-3 run before McAuliffe sank at triple at 18:08 to make it a one-point contest. The Bombers responded soon after, but Zach Johnson (San Francisco, CA) netted the inside layup to make it 9-8. An 8-1 Bombers' run pushed their lead to 16-9 before Neville Lee (Yonkers, NY) found the open basket.

Ithaca extended their lead to 46-29 before Vassar rattled off a 7-0 run to keep the game within ten points. It would get no closer, as Ithaca's Skylar Sinon scored the Bombers' next six points to make it 52-40 at the break.

Ithaca's lead grew in the second half, but the Brewers managed an 11-0 run to cut the lead to 64-54 at 14:58. During that span, Mustafaj scored nine points with one three-pointer. Once again, the Bombers were able to retake control of the game, taking a 29-point lead at the 3:02 mark. Vassar managed a short run in the final minutes, but the deficit proved to be too much to overcome.

Mustafaj led the team with 24 points behind 8-of-14 shooting and also grabbed a career-high six rebounds. McAuliffe and Rothenberg both had 13 points with Rothenberg recording a team-high nine rebounds. The Bombers had three players score 22 or more points with Riley Thompson having 25, Sebastian Alderete with 23, and Sinon netting 22. Sinon and Alderete both had seven board to lead the Bombers.

Vassar has one more home game before winter break, hosting Skidmore on Wed. Dec. 11 at the AFC at 7:30 p.m.