POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – In the final home game of the season, the Vassar men's basketball team fell 51-64 to Hobart on Saturday afternoon in the AFC. With the win, the Statesmen move to 19-4 and 13-3 in the Liberty League and tie Ithaca for second place in the conference. Vassar slips to 10-13 and 6-10 in the league. At the moment, they hold the fifth-seed in the conference standings.
The Brewers opened with two unanswered three-pointers from freshman Avni Mustafaj (Yonkers, NY) to take a 6-0 lead. Hobart responded with a 10-0 run to take the lead. Vassar held the game close, retaking the lead after two baskets by Zach Johnson (San Francisco, CA). Another Statesmen's run pushed 19-13 at 6:12, but Zach Bromfeld (Woodmere, NY) cut the lead to four after an inside jumper.
Three from Jackson Meshanic and Tucker Lescoe pushed the Hobart lead to ten until a Kevin McAuliffe (Bethesda, MD) four-point play cut the lead to 19-25. The Brewers kept the game within singles digits, but still trailed by seven at the half.
Vassar attempted to chip away at the deficit in the second, with Johnson and Lance Tebay (Virginia Beach, VA) each scoring to make it 25-30. Hobart took at 12-point lead at 12:29 to force a Vassar timeout. Four points by Jack Rothenberg (Yardley, PA) brought the game back to single digits until Lescoe drained another three to make it 31-44. A three by Rothenberg spurred an 8-2 Brewers' run that ended with Ethan Ellis (Silver Spring, MD) hitting a tree to cut the lead to 43-48 at 6:04. Unfortunately, a 14-4 Statesmen run followed, putting Hobart up by 15 with two minutes left, which the Brewers could not surpass.
Johnson led the team with 14 points and six rebounds, while Rothenberg had 11 points and four boards. Bromfeld added eight with a team-high three blocks.
For Hobart, Meshanic recorded a game-high 22 points along with ten boards. Masino tacked on 14 points and five rebounds.
Today's game also marked Senior Day as Josh Brownridge (New York, NY) and Kyle Kappes (San Diego, CA) were honored.
Vassar wraps up the regular season on the road next weekend. The Brewers first face league-leading Ithaca on Fri. Feb 21 at 7:30 and then closes out against RIT on Sat. Feb 22 at 4 p.m.
