ITHACA, NY - The Vassar College Men's Basketball team closed the season on Saturday afternoon with a 79-78 road victory over Ithaca at Ben Light Gymnasium on the South Hill. The Brewers conclude the 2023-24 campaign with a 10-15 overall record and 8-10 mark in conference action while the Bombers finish at 12-13 overall and 7-11 in Liberty League play.

FIRST HALF

• Vassar came out firing in the first four minutes as junior Luke Adams and first year Sebastian Medina combined for nine points to lead the Brewers out to a 11-2 advantage.
• Following a three-pointer from Triston Wennersten, first year Shea Fitzgerald poured in five straight points to put Vassar ahead 16-5 at the 14:57 mark.
• Another Fitzgerald conversion with 10:45 remaining pushed the Brewers lead to 12 before the lead grew to 13 on a triple from first year Avery Lee with 6:58 to go.
• Ithaca reduced the lead to eight on a Cole Wissink free throw at the 2:55 mark before Vassar built the lead back to 12 on a putback from senior Case Parsons at the end of the opening half.
• The Brewers shot an even 50-percent overall in the first half while going 4-for-12 from three-point territory.
• Ithaca finished the first half shooting 39.3-percent from the field and went 4-for-16 from three.

SECOND HALF

• The Bombers opened the second half on a 13-4 run as Wennersten's triple with 16:35 remaining trimmed the lead to three.
• Following a jumper from Lee to push the lead to five, the Bombers went on a 9-2 run to take its first lead on Andrew Geschickter's three-pointer with 13:26 to go.
• Vassar regained the lead on a putback from sophomore Nathan Denham with 9:42 remaining and Denham's layup with 8:24 to go pushed the Brewers ahead 62-59.
• Logan Wendell's layup tied the game at 63 before Vassar went on a 8-2 run to push ahead 71-65 on a bucket from sophomore JP Miranda.
• A Wennersten triple with 3:33 remaining got Ithaca within one before a Lee lay-in got the lead back to three with 2:26 to go.
• Wendell got the game within one on a putback at the 1:18 mark but Fitzgerald countered with a mid-range jumper to make it 79-76 with 27 seconds remaining.
• Wendell connected on two free throws to get within one once again but Vassar forced a missed shot with under a second remaining to clinch its second road victory of the season.
• The Brewers closed the second half shooting 53.6-percent overall and were just 1-for-6 from three-point range.
• Ithaca finished the second half shooting 48.6-percent from the field and converted 6-for-14 from three.

FOR THE BREWERS

• Lee tallied a team-high 18 points off the bench on 6-for-10 shooting while Fitzgerald finished with 16 points (6-for-11), five rebounds and three assists.
• Medina tied his career high in points with 12 along with seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
• Denham recorded 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench and Parsons registered eight points and seven rebounds.

FOR THE BOMBERS

• Wendell finished with 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting and added nine assists and four rebounds.
• Wennersten added 22 points and six rebounds while Alex Penders tallied 15 points on 6-for-7 from the field.

GAME STATS

• Vassar finished the game shooting 51.7-percent from the field while connecting on five three-pointers.
• Ithaca shot 44.4-percent overall while shooting 10-for-30 from three-point range.
• Vassar held a 44-32 edge in points in the paint along with a 16-13 advantage in second chance points.
• Ithaca held a strong edge in points off turnovers at 20-5.