Canton, NY - The Vassar College Men's Basketball team returned to Liberty League play on Friday evening as the Brewers dropped an 80-52 road contest to St. Lawrence at Ronald T. Burkman Gymnasium. The Brewers fall to 6-5 overall and 2-2 in conference action while the Saints improve to 8-3 overall and 2-3 in Liberty League play.

First Half

• Vassar opened the contest with an early 6-2 lead following the opening lay-in from sophomore Avery Lee along with back-to-back buckets from junior Nathan Denham.
• The Saints answered with a 16-3 run over the next six minutes behind eight points from Aidan Macaulay and six points from Troy McPherson to take a 18-9 lead at the 11:03 mark.
• VC went on a mini 8-2 run to cut the lead down to 20-17 with 8:58 remaining after consecutive triples from junior Sacha Greenberg and Lee.
• SLU's lead expanded back to nine points on a three from Adam Dudzinski at the 6:21 mark until a triple from sophomore Shea Fitzgerald trimmed the lead to five with 4:26 remaining.
• The Saints advantage grew to a first half high 10 points on a three-point play from Dudzinski before the Brewers closed the first half with triples from senior Alex Walters and Lee to cut the lead in half at 38-33 heading into the halftime break.
• The Brewers closed the first half shooting 41.4-percent overall, including 5-for-10 from three-point range, and connected on 4-for-5 from the free throw line.
• SLU ended the first 20 minutes shooting 36.4-percent from the field and went 7-for-17 from three and 7-for-9 from the free throw stripe.

Second Half

• VC got within four early in the second half after a three-pointer from Fitzgerald and a jumper from sophomore Kreekor Karageuzian at 42-38 with 16:58 remaining,
• The Saints regained a double digit advantage on a bucket from McPherson to make it 55-44 at the 12:50 mark.
• St. Lawrence's lead ballooned to 60-44 on an old fashioned three-point play from Trey Syroka with 10:54 to go in the second half.
• Vassar rallied with an 8-3 run during a two minute stretch to get within 63-52 on a bucket from Lee at the 8:28 mark.
• SLU reeled off a 17-0 run over the next four minutes to stretch its lead to game-high 28 points at 80-52 on two free throws from Patrick Mulholland with 3:07 remaining.
• VC cooled to 24.2-percent from the field and just 2-for-13 from the three-point line in the second half.
• The Saints finished the second half shooting 45.7-percent overall while going 3-for-10 from three-point distance.

For The Brewers

• Lee tallied a team-high 15 points, four assists and three rebounds while Denham added 10 points, eight boards and two blocks.
• Fitzgerald recorded nine points, four assists, four rebounds and three steals along with Karageuzian supplying six points, five assists and three rebounds.
• Greenberg chipped in seven points off the bench along with five points from Walters.

For The Saints

• Dudzinski finished with a game-high 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists while A. Macaulay tallied 11 points, four boards and three assists.
• McPherson registered 15 points, two assists and two steals off the bench along with Dan Anderson adding eight points, six boards and four assists.
• Syroka recorded seven points and a game-high six assists while Cowan and Gavin Macaulay each supplied six points.

Game Statistics

• Vassar finished the night shooting 32.3-percent from the field, including 7-for-23 from three, and went 8-for-9 from the free throw line.
• SLU shot 41.2-percent overall in the contest while going 10-for-27 from bonus distance and 14-for-18 from the free throw stripe.
• The Saints held a 21-12 edge in points off turnovers, 26-20 in points in the paint and 23-18 in second chance points.

Up Next

• Vassar closes its North Country trip tomorrow afternoon against Clarkson at 4:00 p.m.
• St. Lawrence plays host to Bard on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.