ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Brewers are returning to the Liberty League Tournament. After building up to a 22-point halftime lead, the Vassar men's basketball team (11-14, 7-11 Liberty) held off RIT (9-16, 6-12 Liberty) 74-65 to secure the fifth seed in the Liberty League Tournament. The Brewers play at fourth-seeded Union next Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Vassar set the tone less than ten seconds in. Following a pass from first-year Zach Johnson (San Francisco, CA), junior Lance Tebay (Virginia Beach, VA) slammed in a dunk the opening possession. The Brewers built up to a 7-2 lead, and then freshman Kevin McAuliffe (Bethesda, MD) drained a triple to push the lead to eight.

The Tigers chipped their way back, cutting the lead to 12-8 at 13:23. Freshman Avni Mustafaj (Yonkers, NY) then picked up Zach Bromfeld (Woodmere, NY) in the paint for an inside layup, beginning a 14-2 Brewers run. In that span, Johnson had six points, with McAuliffe and Ethan Ellis (Silver Spring, MD) knocking down treys. At 5:38, RIT's Chuck Okehiecored inside to cut the lead to 28-12, but threes by Tebay and senior Kyle Kappes (San Diego, CA) gave the Brewers a 22-point advantage.

RIT once again made it a 16-point game until Vassar closed the half on a 6-0 run behind scores by Ellis, Joey Sacco (Ocean City, NJ), and Johnson. Vassar shot hot in the first half, going 56.67 percent from the field and 55.56 percent from three-point range.

Vassar took its largest lead of the night when Bromfeld hit a jumper to put the Brewers up by 24. Vassar maintained the lead for a while, but the Tigers were not going away that easy. Three unanswered triples by RIT cut the lead to 13, but Vassar responded with a 6-0 run to go up 55-37. Vassar led by at least 15-points until RIT's Curtis Nesbit hit a triple to make it 70-56 at 3:35. Another Tigers' three-pointer made it a ten-point game, but the Brewers connected with their late-game free throws to secure the win.

Johnson netted a career-high 22 points behind 8-of-12 shooting (.667 percent) and grabbed ten boards for his fifth double-double of the year. He also led the team with four assists and two steals. Bromfeld tacked on 16 points and five rebounds, while McAuliffe finished with nine points from three triples. The trio of Tebay, Ellis, and Sacco each had seven points.

For RIT, Nesbit scored a team-high 16 points and had six rebounds. Will Atkinson recorded 13 points, while Keegan Ocurr had ten.

This marks the first time since 2017-18 the Brewers have made the Liberty League Tournament. Vassar travels to Union on Tues. Feb. 25 at 7 p.m.