Geneva, NY - Junior Nathan Denham tip-in with 0.7 seconds left in overtime propelled the Vassar College Men's Basketball team to its first conference victory of the season over Hobart in road action on Saturday afternoon. Sophomores Shea Fitzgerald and Avery Lee each tallied 20 points to push the Brewers to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play while the Statesmen fall to 5-3 overall and 1-2 in Liberty League action.

First Half

• Vassar got out to a 9-4 lead following a triple from senior Alex Walters and a bucket each from Lee, Denham and sophomore Kreekor Karageuzian.
• The Brewers expanded the lead to 15-10 on a three-pointer from junior Sacha Greenberg with 12 minutes remaining in the first half.
• Denham's jumper pushed the advantage to 19-13 at the 8:00 mark before the Statesmen drew within four points following four straight points from Monty Nedd.
• Lee's three-pointer with 5:56 to go in the half put the Brewers ahead 29-19 and a driving layup from Fitzgerald pushed the advantage to 11 points at 36-25 with 2:36 left in the half.
• Hobart closed the half on a 13-4 run as Allen Mordi's triple before the expiration of the first half to tie the game at 38.
• VC shot 41.7-percent overall in the opening 20 minutes as the Brewers finished 5-for-14 from three-point range and 3-for-5 from the free throw line.
• The Statesmen closed the first half shooting an even 50-percent overall, including 4-for-10 from the three-point line, and shot 12-for-16 from the free throw line.

Second Half

• The two teams traded buckets throughout the first 10 minutes of the second half as Vassar went ahead 57-53 on a Denham layup with 9:11 remaining.
• The Brewers lead increased to six points with 6:44 remaining after two free throws from Walters before the Statesmen cut the advantage to 63-61 with 3:17 to go in regulation.
• Four straight made free throws from Lee expanded the advantage to 67-61 with just 49 seconds left in the game.
• Two made free throws from Moesch and a layup from Rodgers with 24 seconds remaining reduced the Vassar lead to one point.
• Lee knocked down two free throws to push the lead to three points with 17 seconds left before a three-point play from Moesch with nine seconds remaining evened the game at 70 and sent the game to overtime.

Overtime

• Hobart scored the first five points of the overtime period after a triple from Rodgers and a layup from Moesch.
• The lead expanded to 77-71 with 2:30 remaining on two free throws from Moesch before the Brewers cut the lead to two on a Walters triple with 1:18 remaining.
• Fitzgerald knocked down a jumper to tie the game at 78 with 36 seconds to go before Vassar got a defensive stop to gain the final possession of the overtime period.
• Following a driving layup from Fitzgerald, Denham tipped in the offensive rebounds with 0.7 seconds left on the clock to give the Brewers their first conference victory of the season.

For The Brewers

• Lee finished with 20 points, a team-high six assists and five rebounds while Fitzgerald recorded 20 points and four boards.
• Denham put together a strong game with a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds along with two blocks, two steals and two assists.
• Adams and Walters each added eight points off the bench.

For The Statesmen

• Rodgers tallied a game-high 26 points on 9-for-13 shooting and added four assists, two steals and three rebounds. 
• Moesch recorded 15 points and seven boards while C. Meshanic finished with nine points, 13 rebounds and three assists.
• H. Meshanic registered six points, seven boards, four assists and two steals along with Pat Healy adding seven points off the bench.

Game Statistics

• Vassar finished the game shooting 39.4-percent overall while connecting on seven triples and shooting 17-for-27 from the free throw line.
• Hobart closed the contest shooting 44.6-percent from the field while going 6-for-15 from three and 22-for-30 from the free throw stripe.
• The Brewers held a slim edge in points in the paint at 40-34 and second chance points at 12-5.

Up Next

• Vassar will close the 2024 portion of the schedule with a road conference clash with Skidmore on Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m.
• Hobart will head to non-conference foe Utica on Monday, December 16.