Poughkeepsie, NY - Sophomore Shea Fitzgerald posted a game-high 28 points along with junior Nathan Denham tallying 16 points as the Vassar College Men's Basketball held off a late RPI charge to earn a key 63-59 victory at home on Friday evening.

Friday's victory pushes the Brewers to 8-5 overall and 4-2 in Liberty League play while the Engineers slip to 11-3 overall and 5-2 in conference action.

First Half

• Vassar got off to a hot start as Fitzgerald and Denham combined for the first nine points for the Brewers for a 9-2 lead just four minutes into the contest.
• VC's lead ballooned to double digits at 19-7 with 12:42 remaining following a triple from senior Luke Adams and two free throws from Fitzgerald.
• RPI trimmed the advantage down to five on a Yechiel Stewart three-pointer with 6:52 left in the half before the lead grew back to 10 following a lay-in from sophomore Avery Lee with 4:39 to go in the half.
• A three-point play from Dylan Matchett knocked the lead back to five with three minutes left in the opening half.
• Vassar's lead once again expanded to 10 points on a Fitzgerald triple in the final minute of the first half before a Matchett bucket before the end of the half to cut the Vassar lead to 32-24 after the first half.
• The Brewers closed the first half shooting 46.2-percent overall from the field while connecting on 5-for-10 behind the three-point line.
• RPI finished the opening 20 minutes of action shooting 43.5-percent from the field and went 3-for-6 from bonus distance.

Second Half

• The Engineers brought the lead down to two coming out of the break as a lay-in from PJ Scalisi at the 17:05 mark cut the Vassar lead to 36-34.
• Two free throws from Lee bumped the advantage to 40-34 but back-to-back triples from Chuck Clemons evened the score at 40 with 13:51 remaining.
• RPI took its first lead on a bucket from Andrew Deppe with 5:56 left in regulation and saw it get to as many as three points following two free throws.
• Vassar battled back to regain the lead after a jumper from sophomore Sebastian Medina and two free throws from Denham to make it 53-52 with 3:44 to go.
• Two more free throws from Deppe pushed the Engineers ahead by one before a triple from Fitzgerald and a lay-in from Denham put Vassar back ahead 58-54 with under a minute to go.
• RPI could only get as close as two in the final minute as junior JP Miranda knocked down two big free throws along with two more from Fitzgerald in the final seconds.
• Vassar finished the second half shooting 30.7-percent from the field and was limited to just 1-for-10 from the three-point line.
• RPI shot 42.9-percent overall in the second half and connected on 4-for-10 from long range.

For The Brewers

• Fitzgerald cracked the 20-point mark for the ninth time this season as he poured in 28 points on 8-for-14 from the field and connected on 5-for-9 from the three-point arc. He also added five assists and seven rebounds and increased his points per game average to a league-high 22.5.
• Denham added 16 points on 6-for-11 from the field along with a team-high eight boards, two assists, three steals and a block.
• Lee posted nine points, five assists and three steals while sophomore Kreekor Karageuzian added three steals, five rebounds and two assists.

For The Engineers

• Matchett supplied a team-high 17 points and five rebounds along with Deppe recording 13 points and three assists.
• Clemons tallied eight points, four assists and six boards while Avery Eugster registered eight points, three helpers and six rebounds.
• Scalisi finished with five points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists along with Stewart adding six points off the bench.

Game Statistics

• Vassar closed the contest shooting 38.5-percent from the field and finished 6-for-20 from three and 17-for-21 from the free throw stripe.
• RPI ended the game shooting 43.2-percent overall, including 7-for-16 from three-point range, and connected on 13-for-15 from the free throw line.
• VC held a slim edge in points off turnovers at 13-9 while the Engineers held a 20-16 advantage in points in the paint.

Up Next

• Vassar plays host to RIT tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m. at the AFC Gymnasium.
• RPI makes the trip to Bard for a 4:00 p.m. tip.