CANTON, N.Y. – The Vassar men's basketball team dropped a defensive battle to St. Lawrence 50-51 on Friday evening on the road. The Brewers now fall to 12-5 overall and 8-3 in the Liberty League. Meanwhile, the Saints move to 11-6 and 5-5 in the conference.

Vassar used an 8-0 run comprised of two three-pointers from Kevin McAuliffe (Bethesda, MD) to begin the first half, and the Brewers held the Saints scoreless for the first four minutes of play. St. Lawrence's Trent Adamson got the Saints on the board following a layup, but Zach Johnson made it 10-2 when he collected an offensive rebound and laid it back in.

After a Saints basket at 14:24, a two-minute scoring drought from both teams followed. Johnson finally netted a basket from a Logan Scott (Schenectady, NY) feed to give Vassar a ten-point lead. Vassar appeared to be in control, but St. Lawrence showed that it could play under pressure. The Saints went on a 10-0 span to tie at 9:05.

A triple from Avni Mustafaj (Yonkers, NY) put the Brewers up 15-12, but the Saints' Gavin Macaulay responded with a trey to keep the game tied. The pace slowed down again for the remainder of the half, and the game was tied 19-19. St. Lawrence took its first lead of the night when Will Englehardt scored inside. The Saints built some momentum afterward, using a 5-2 run to take a 26-23 advantage at halftime.

St. Lawrence netted the opening basket to start the half, pushing its lead to five. Then a Johnson layup and an Ethan Ellis (Silver Spring, MD) three-pointer tied it up at 28-28. Neither side could take control as both teams struggled to score consistently. Adamson's four straight points gave the Saints a three-point lead that they held until Luke Adams (Leawood, KS) drained a three to make it 34-34 at 11:48.

The Saints took another lead after the tie and went on to lead by six when Englehardt hit a mid-range jumper at 8:00. Jack Rothenberg cut the deficit to three when Alan Cedeno (Cape Coral, FL) found him in the corner for the open three. After some baskets were traded, the Brewers retook the lead at 44-43 following a Johnson layup and then a shot-clock beating jumper by Adams.  

McAuliffe hit a three-pointer at 1:03 to give Vassar a one-point lead, but St. Lawrence scored four consecutive points. Rothenberg scored the final layup, but there was not enough time for the Brewers to have another opportunity.

Johnson led Vassar with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Mustafaj added ten points, five rebounds, and five assists. Rothenberg and McAuliffe each tacked on nine points.

For the Saints, Adamson scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed six rebounds with two blocks.

Vassar looks to bounce back tomorrow afternoon when they face Clarkson at 4 p.m.