Poughkeepsie, NY - The Vassar College Men's Basketball team opened its 2024-25 home slate on Friday evening as the Brewers fell 79-71 against New Paltz in the first day of the Hudson Valley Classic. Sophomores Shea Fitzgerald and Avery Lee combined for 47 points for Vassar as the Brewers drop to 2-2 overall while the Hawks improve to 2-0 on the season.

First Half

• Both teams traded points over the first seven minutes as New Paltz gained a 13-8 lead on a bucket from Lamar Matthews.
• Isaiah Rivera's layup pushed the Hawks lead to 22-14 with eight minutes remaining before Vassar went on a 9-1 run behind two buckets from junior Nathan Denham and a layup each from Fitzgerald and Lee to even the score at 23
• Lee's three points evened the game once again at 26 at the 4:15 mark as the two teams went scoreless for three and a half minutes.
• A triple from Fitzgerald with 37 seconds remaining put the Brewers ahead by a point until the Hawks closed the half with a bucket from A.J. Knight to take a 30-29 lead into the halftime break.
• Vassar closed the opening 20 minutes shooting 36.7-percent from the field, including 5-for-16 from three, and went 2-for-3 from the free throw line.
• New Paltz finished the first half shooting 38.2-percent overall while going 2-for-10 from three and 2-for-4 from the free throw stripe.

Second Half

• The lead changed hands multiple times in the opening three minutes as Vassar pushed ahead 40-37 on a dunk from Denham and a lay-in from sophomore Kreekor Karageuzian.
• New Paltz regained the lead at 42-40 after a jumper from Sean St. Lucia until a triple from senior Alex Walters put Vassar ahead by a point at the 13:42 mark.
• Following a Fitzgerald jumper at the 12:16 mark to give Vassar a 45-44 advantage, the Hawks rattled off a 11-0 run to go ahead 55-45 after eight points from Rivera.
• Vassar cut the lead to 57-50 after two free throws from Lee before New Paltz's lead grew to 11 on a Alex Krupinski jumper.
• Three free throws from Walters with 5:01 remaining cut the lead to single digits again at 63-56.
• New Paltz expanded the lead to 71-59 on a lay-in from Trevor Amalfitano with just under three minutes remaining.
• A three-pointer from Fitzgerald cut the Hawks lead to five at 74-69 with 38 seconds remaining but Vassar couldn't get any closer as the Hawks five free throws in the final seconds.
• Vassar finished the second half shooting 32.4-percent from the field while shooting 5-for-13 from three and 15-for-17 from the free throw line.
• New Paltz shot 43.3-percent overall in the second half and went 4-for-11 from three and 19-for-26 from the free throw line.

For The Brewers

• Fitzgerald finished with a game-high 25 points on 9-for-18 shooting along with four assists, five rebounds and two steals.
• Lee added 22 points and a team-high seven assists while Denham chipped in six points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
• Walters recorded 12 points, five rebounds and two blocks off the bench along with Adams handing out three assists.

For The Hawks

• Rivera posted a team-high 17 points, six rebounds and three assists off the bench while S. St. Lucia registered 11 points, three steals and two assists.
• Knight tallied 11 points along with Matthews adding 10 points and Krupinski recording eight points, two steals and three boards.
• Dakoda Smith collected a game-high 13 rebounds and chipped in five points, two blocks and two assists.

Game Statistics

• Vassar finished with a 12-6 edge in points off turnovers while the Hawks held an advantage in points in the paint at 34-22.
• The Hawks also held an advantage in second chance points at 14-6 and bench points at 40-12.

Up Next

• Both teams will head to Bard tomorrow afternoon for the second day of the Hudson Valley Classic as the Brewers will take on Mount Saint Mary at 4:00 p.m. and New Paltz will play Bard at 6:00 p.m.