Gettysburg, PA - The Vassar College Men's Basketball team opened the 2024-25 campaign on Friday evening at the Gettysburg Tip-Off Tournament as the Brewers fell 81-54 to Ohio Northern at Bream Gymnasium. The Brewers drop to 0-1 on the early season and will take on Arcadia in the consolation game tomorrow while the Polar Bears improve to 1-0 and will face off with the host Bullets in the championship game.

First Half

• The Polar Bears scored the first 11 points of the game as four different players tallied points, led by a three-pointer from Carter Reese.
• Vassar cut the lead to 13-7 following two free throws from sophomore Shea Fitzgerald and a jumper from junior Nathan Denham.
• Following a three-pointer from Mason Studer to make it 21-9, Vassar battled back to get within five at 24-19 with five minutes left in the half on a lay-in from Fitzgerald and buckets from Denham and sophomore Kreekor Karageuzian.
• The Brewers got within five once again on a layup from sophomore Eric Zhang with three minutes to go in the period until the Polar Bears extended the lead to nine at the half after a jumper from Aiden Harris.
• Vassar closed the first half shooting 32.1-percent overall while connecting on two triples and going 5-for-6 from the free throw line.
• Ohio Northern shot 44.4-percent from the field along with three three-pointers and shot 7-for-10 from the free throw stripe.

Second Half

• Ohio Northern extended its lead to 13 on a Studer three-pointer early in the second half before Vassar drew within 10 on two free throws from Denham.
• The advantage grew to 15 points on a three from Noah Langford with 12:53 remaining until the Brewers clawed back to trim the lead to nine following two lay-ins from Denham and a bucket from Fitzgerald.
• The Polar Bears lead was pushed to 22 points with seven minutes to go on back-to-back Will Miller triples.
• Vassar got within 19 on another jumper from Denham before Ohio Northern expanded the lead to 26 with three minutes to go on a three from Te'Mar Lewis.
• Ohio Northern's largest lead came with 1:20 left on a layup from Conye Gaston.
• The Brewers were held to 26.7-percent shooting from the field and connected on one three-pointer while going 12-for-20 from the free throw line.
• Ohio Northern shot 48.4-percent overall and knocked down 11 triples in the second half and made all six free throws. 

For The Brewers

• Denham led the team with 18 points (6-for-8 from the field), four steals and four rebounds while Fitzgerald added 13 points, two steals and a team-high five assists.
• Zhang added eight points along with senior Luke Adams tallying three points, three assists and six rebounds.
• Karageuzian chipped in six points off the bench while junior Sacha Greenberg grabbed six rebounds off the bench.

For The Polar Bears

• Reese finished with game-high 19 points, five assists and six caroms while Jadi Cunningham Jr. recorded 18 points, two assists, two steals and six rebounds off the bench.
• Miller and Studer each added 10 points along with Langford knocking down three three-pointers.
• Blake Michael tallied four points and a team-high seven rebounds while Lewis recorded eight points.

Game Statistics

• Vassar shot 32.1-percent overall on the night while making three triples and went 17-for-26 from the free throw line.
• Ohio Northern finished the evening shooting 46.6-percent, along with going 14-for-37 from three, and shot 13-for-16 from the free throw line.
• The Polar Bears held the edge in points off turnovers at 19-4 and second chance points at 17-3.

Up Next

• Vassar will take on Arcadia at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday in the consolation game.
• Ohio Northern will face off with Gettysburg at 6:00 p.m. in the championship game.