SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Vassar men's basketball team bounced back into the win column following a 66-57 win over Skidmore on Friday evening. The Brewers now move to 10-3 overall with a 6-1 mark in the Liberty League. Skidmore falls to 5-4 and 1-2 in the conference.

The first half started close, and the Brewers took a 7-4 lead when Zach Johnson scored inside at 14:39. Skidmore's Riley Greene scored to cut the Vassar lead to one, but a Neville Lee (Yonkers, NY) triple from an Alan Cedeno (Cape Coral, FL) made it 10-6. Vassar continued to hold a narrow lead and went up by four when Jack Rothenberg (Yardley, PA) fed the ball to Michael Dixon (Brooklyn, NY) for the open basket.

A 6-0 Skidmore run gave the Thoroughbreds their first lead of the night until Ethan Ellis (Silver Spring, MD) drained a trey to make it 15-14 at 7:46. Another run by Skidmore put the hosts up once again. Ellis then scored five-straight points to give Vassar a two-point lead with less than five minutes in the half.

Skidmore more tied the game two more times after that and then took a 24-22 when Greg Skoric dunked twice in the final minute to give the Thoroughbreds a 26-22 lead at the break.

The hosts opened the second, scoring the first four points before another Ellis triple cut the lead to 29-37. After Ty Lamport converted a pair of free throws, Avni Mustafaj (Yonkers, NY) hit a jumper to begin a 6-0 Vassar run to lessen the lead to three points. A Zach Johnson (San Francisco, CA) layup and then a mid-range jumper from Luke Adams (Leawood, KS) tied the game 41-41 at 11:56.  

Both teams faced a slight scoring drought for the next three minutes, but Ellis made a three-pointer to lead the Brewers. Vassar continued to build its lead, and Rothenberg pushed the advantage to 56-48 after a layup at 3:44. The game remained within single digits, and Lamport cut into the Vassar lead when he hit a three-pointer at 0:57 to make it 59-54. Mustafaj was sent to the free-throw line three times in the final minute, going 5-of-6 to keep the Brewers ahead 64-57. Adams sank the last pair of free throws to secure the 66-57 victory.

Mustafaj led the team with 21 points and added six assists with five rebounds. Johnson earned his tenth double-double of the season behind 10 points and 17 rebounds. Ellis had a great shooting night, finishing 7-of-10 with three triples for 17 points.

Lamport led the Thoroughbreds with 20 points, while Skoric had 15 with a game-high 21 boards and seven blocks.

Vassar travels to face RIT in Liberty League play tomorrow at 4 p.m.