Ithaca, NY - The Vassar College Men's Basketball team opened up Liberty League play on the road on Friday evening as the Brewers dropped an 88-65 contest against Ithaca at Ben Light Gymnasium. Vassar's record falls to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in conference action while the Bombers improve to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in Liberty League play.

First Half

• Following a free throw from sophomore Sebastian Medina to open the contest, the Bombers went on a 13-2 run, spurred by six points from Logan Wendell, to go ahead 13-3 at the 12:47 mark.
• Vassar answered with six straight points on a bucket each from junior Sacha Greenberg, sophomore Kreekor Karageuzian and junior Nathan Denham to trim the lead to 13-9 with 11:26 to go in the opening half.
• The Brewers drew even at 15 all on a free throw from junior JP Miranda with just under eight minutes left in the first half.
• The Bombers regained the lead and extended it to 26-19 following five consecutive free throws from Wendell with 4:40 to go.
• IC's lead grew to double digits at 32-22 on a triple from Cole Wissink followed by a lay-in from Jaylon O'Neal with 2:19 remaining.
• Ithaca's advantage expanded to a first half high of 14 points on a Wissink bucket before sophomore Avery Lee connected on a triple in the final minute to reduce the lead to 36-25.
• Aidan Holmes' layup with 33 seconds remaining in the half gave Ithaca a 13 point advantage at the halftime break.
• Vassar closed the opening half shooting 37-percent overall while being limited to 2-for-11 from three and 3-for-6 from the free throw line.
• Ithaca finished the first half shooting 46.2-percent from the field, including 3-for-11 from three, and converted 11-for-12 from the free throw stripe.

Second Half

• Ithaca's lead grew to 48-31 following an old-fashioned three-point play from Evan Cabral before Greenberg knocked down a three-pointer to cut the lead to 14 with 16:10 remaining.
• VC reduced the lead down to 13 points once again at 57-43 on a three-point play from sophomore Shea Fitzgerald at the 14:03 mark of the second half.
• Following a Cabral lay-in with 13:51 to go, VC reeled off a 7-0 run, led by three points each from Fitzgerald and Miranda, to cut the lead to single digits at 59-51 with 12 minutes left in regulation.
• Ithaca expanded its lead back to double digits with a 10-3 run to go ahead 69-54 following seven points from Wendell with 9:25 remaining.
• A triple from senior Alex Walters and two free throws from Fitzgerald brought the Brewers within 10 with just over eight minutes left.
• Ithaca used an 8-0 run, led by five points from Aidan Holmes, to take a 77-59 lead with six and a half minutes left in regulation.
• The Bombers lead ballooned to 23 points on back-to-back buckets from Wendell to earn an 84-61 advantage with three minutes to go in the contest.
• VC closed the second half shooting 35.5-percent, including 4-for-11 from three, and finished 14-for-16 from the free throw line.
• Ithaca shot an even 50-percent overall while going 3-for-7 from three and 19-for-26 from the free throw line.

For The Brewers

• Fitzgerald tallied a team-high 21 points on 5-for-12 from the field and a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line.
• Greenberg chipped in nine points off the bench while Denham finished with four points, four steals and three rebounds.
• Karageuzian added eight points along with Lee recording four points, two assists and four boards.
• Miranda registered six points and a team-high three assists.

For The Bombers

• Wendell fell one point short of his career-high as he poured in 36 points on 10-for-16 overall, 4-for-6 from three and 12-for-13 from the free throw line.
• Holmes recorded 13 points, four steals, four boards and two assists while Cabral added 10 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
• O'Neal secured eight points, six boards, three steals and two helpers along with Chris Leysath registering seven points and nine rebounds.

Game Statistics

• Vassar finished the contest shooting 36.2-percent from the field, connecting on six triples, and went 17-for-22 from the free throw line.
• The Bombers closed the game shooting 48.1-percent overall, including 6-for-18 from three and was 30-for-38 from the free throw stripe.
• Ithaca outpaced Vassar in points off turnovers at 21-10 and second chance points at 19-7.

Up Next

• Vassar will continue Liberty League play against Hobart tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m. in Geneva.
• Ithaca will host Bard tomorrow at 4:00 p.m.