Saratoga Springs, NY - Sophomore Shea Fitzgerald scored a season-high 29 points as the Vassar College Men's Basketball team used a second half surge to earn its second straight conference victory with a 82-74 win over Skidmore on the road on Wednesday evening. The Brewers improve to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in Liberty League play while the Thoroughbreds drop to 3-5 on the season and 0-3 in conference action.

First Half

• Following a lay-in from junior Nathan Denham to knot the game at four all, Skidmore went on a 12-2 run, led by five points from Alexei Downie to take a 16-6 lead at the 14:04 mark of the first half.
• The Brewers responded with a 9-3 run to cut the lead to 19-15 with 12:02 remaining after a triple from senior Alex Walters and two points each from sophomores Fitzgerald, Avery Lee and Sebastian Medina.
• Skidmore's advantage grew back to nine points following a triple from Downie with 8:22 left in the half and the Thoroughbreds regained its double digit lead on a driving layup from Hakeem Daphnis a minute later at 32-21.
• Back-to-back three-pointers from Walters and Fitzgerald, both assisted by sophomore Kreekor Karageuzian, trimmed the lead down to four with 3:10 left in the opening half.A 
• A bucket from Denham and two free throws from Fitzgerald put the Brewers within three points at the halftime break at 42-39.
• The Brewers finished the opening half shooting 43.8-percent from the field, including 3-for-12 from three, and went 8-for-10 from the free throw line.
• Skidmore ended the first 20 minutes shooting an even 50-percent overall while finishing 5-for-11 from three-point range and 5-for-7 from the free throw stripe.

Second Half

• Medina's layup to open the second half cut the lead down to one before the Thoroughbreds went on an 8-2 run over the next three minutes to go ahead 50-43.
• VC brought the lead down to 54-51 at the 13:18 mark on a triple from senior Luke Adams and the Brewers evened the game at 54 on a three-point play from Karageuzian.
• Vassar took its first lead of the game with 10:35 to go in regulation on a jumper from Lee to go ahead 58-56.
• The Brewers lead grew to three points at 63-60 on two free throws from Fitzgerald until a three-pointer from Nick Padilla tied the game with 8:22 to go.
• Another triple from Padilla regained the Thoroughbreds lead before a dunk from Walters and a driving lay-in from Lee pushed the Brewers ahead 67-66.
• Aidan Roy's floater pushed Skidmore ahead 70-69 with 4:34 remaining until back-to-back triples from junior JP Miranda and Fitzgerald put Vassar up 75-70 with just under three minutes left in the contest.
• The Brewers lead expanded to 80-74 on a driving bucket from Lee with 1:05 left in the half while Fitzgerald knocked down two free throws to clinch the 82-74 victory.
• Vassar finished the second half shooting 52-percent overall, including 3-for-7 from three, and finished 14-for-16 from the free throw line.
• Skidmore cooled to 40.6-percent from the field while going 4-for-15 from three-point range and 2-for-2 from the free throw stripe.

For The Brewers

• Fitzgerald poured in a season-high 29 points on 6-for-14 shooting and was a perfect 15-for-15 from the free throw line while chipping in four boards, three assists and three steals.
• Lee added 15 points, three rebounds and two steals along with Denham recording eight points, a team-high eight rebounds, two blocks and two assists.
• Karageuzian registered eight points and a team-high five assists while Medina finished with six points, five boards, three assists and two steals,
• Walters chipped in eight points off the bench while Miranda added five points and four boards off the bench.

For The Thoroughbreds

• Joey Skoric recorded a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds and added three blocks while Daphnis tallied 13 points and three assists.
• Roy recorded 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals along with Downie adding 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
• Charlie Fantom chipped in 10 points, four assists and four boards while Padilla added eight points off the bench.

Game Statistics

• Vassar closed the contest shooting 48.2-percent overall along with going 6-for-19 from three and 22-for-26 from the free throw line.
• Skidmore finished shooting 45.3-percent from the field while shooting 9-for-26 from three and 7-for-9 from the free throw stripe.
• The Brewers held a 36-18 advantage in points in the paint while the Thoroughbreds held a 13-12 edge in points off turnovers and 9-5 advantage in second chance points.

Up Next

• Vassar is off until January 3 when the Brewers head to the Middlebury Invitational to take on the Panthers at 6:00 p.m.
• Skidmore heads to the West Coast to square off with Occidental on January 2.