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POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Vassar men's basketball team returns to the Liberty League Tournament for the first time since 2017-18. The Brewers (8-16, 7-11 Liberty) closed the regular season with a 74-65 victory over RIT, securing the fifth-seed and now travel to fourth-seeded Union (15-9, 12-6 Liberty) on Tues. Feb. 25 for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
The teams split the regular-season meetings, with Union winning 99-73 on Jan. 18, and then Vassar taking the next game 60-55 in Poughkeepsie.
Junior Zach Bromfeld (Woodmere, NY) leads Vassar's offense. Bromfeld averages 14.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest. His scoring average ranks seventh in the Liberty League, while he is fourth overall in rebounding. Bromfeld also places fifth in league with 25 blocks this year.
The Brewers' next three leading scorers are all freshmen. Zach Johnson (San Francisco, CA) averages 11.5 points behind a .594 field goal percentage, which is best in the league. He is also fifth in the conference with 8.0 boards a game, including a league-best 3.4 offensive rebounds a game. Avni Mustafaj (Yonkers, NY) adds 9.9 points a contest along with a team-leading 48 assists. He is also second for the Brewers with 19 steals. Kevin McAuliffe has been Vassar's go-to three-point shooter, connecting for 46 this season (.404 percent). He averages 7.7 points a game.
The Dutchmen closed the regular season with three straight road wins against Bard (90-65), St. Lawrence (79-64), and Clarkson (93-85).
Union is led by Mike Concannon, who scores 12.9 points a game. He leads the Dutchmen in both
Assists (61) and steals (30). Union has an even spread in scorers after that, with Brian Noone (9.2 ppg), Jackson Mannix (8.8 ppg), Mike Manley (8.6 ppg), and Nate Freeman (8.4 ppg). Noone and Rhona Eseyade are the Dutchmen's top rebounders, both averaging 5.0 per contest. Eseyade also leads the league with 53 blocks this season.
Tuesday night's winner moves into the Liberty League Semifinals to face top-seeded RPI. That game would be played in Troy, NY on Sat. Feb.29 at 2 p.m.
