POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - The Vassar College Men's Basketball team earned a hard-fought season-opening victory in the Hochberg Family Tip-Off Tournament on Friday evening as the Brewers defeated Gallaudet 59-48 at the Athletics and Fitness Center. The Brewers will take on Haverford, who defeated Purchase at the buzzer in the nightcap, in tomorrow afternoon's championship game while the Bison will face off with Purchase at 2:00 p.m.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• FIRST HALF
  • The Bison took an early 9-3 lead at the 15:24 mark as Bruce Brewer Jr. knocked down a triple along with a jumper from Rory Lewis.
  • Vassar tied the game up at 13 all with 8:13 left as sophomore Sacha Greenberg converted a layup along with a three-pointer from first year Shea Fitzgerald.
  • The Brewers took a six-point lead following a three-point play from senior Case Parsons with five minutes remaining.
  • Gallaudet reduced the lead down to three points on two free throws from Lewis before a triple from junior Alex Walters pushed the lead back to six.
  • Two free throws from Blessed Mbogo trimmed the Vassar lead to three points at the halftime break.
• SECOND HALF
  • Vassar's lead increased to eight early in the second half on a three-pointer from Greenberg and a jumper from Parsons.
  • The lead jumped to double digits with 13:08 to go following two free throws from Fitzgerald.
  • Back-to-back buckets from Alex Antsiferov put the Bison within three with 5:27 to go in the second half.
  • The Brewers went on a 9-0 run over a two minute stretch, led by six points from Greenberg to push its lead to 55-43 with 1:00 to play.
  • Free throws from Fitzgerald and junior Luke Adams clinched the season-opening victory for the Brewers.

FOR THE BREWERS

• Fitzgerald led the scoring for Vassar with 17 points and added five assists and five rebounds.
• Greenberg recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Parsons tallied 12 points and five boards.
• Walters registered 11 points, including three made triples, while senior Logan Scott grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.

FOR THE BISON

• Lewis and Chung each recorded 11 points for the Bison while Mbogo tallied 10 points and eight rebounds.
• Brewer Jr. added five points, four rebounds, two steals and two assists.
• Enow Otto Jr. registered three points and two blocks.

GAME STATS

• Vassar finished the game shooting 32.3-percent from the field and made nine triples while the Bison were limited to 27.5-percent overall and made three three-pointers.
• The Brewers held a 21-11 edge in points off turnovers and 16-9 in second chance points.
• Points in the paint were even at 20 apiece.

UP NEXT

• Vassar will take on Haverford at 4:00 p.m. tomorrow in the Hochberg Tip-Off Championship.
• Gallaudet will face Purchase in the first game of the day at 2:00 p.m.