Poughkeepsie, NY - Junior Avery Lee dropped a career-high 35 points on Saturday afternoon to lead the Vassar College Men's Basketball team to the Hochberg Family Tip-Off Tournament title in a 89-74 victory over Hartford. Senior Nathan Denham was also named to the All-Tournament Team following an impressive weekend as the Brewers move to 2-0 on the season while the Hawks drop to 2-1 overall.

First Half

• Following a layup from Kyle Winters to cut the Vassar lead to 7-4 early, the Brewers scored the next 20 points behind six points from sophomore Parker Neuenhaus and five points each from junior Shea Fitzgerald and Lee to take a 27-4 lead at the 11:33 mark.
• The lead expanded to 25 points following a three-pointer from Lee and a dunk from Neuenhaus to make it 36-11 with 7:41 remaining in the half.
• Triples from Lee and Fitzgerald and a dunk from Denham expanded the Brewrers advantage to 44-17 at the 5:31 mark.
• Hartford would get within 20 points on a Leonard Pelzer lay-in before the end of the half as Vassar took a 53-33 lead into the halftime break.
• Vassar closed the opening half shooting 51.3-percent overall while knocking down 8-of-17 from three-point distance.
• The Hawks finished the first half shooting 33.3-percent from the field and were limited to 4-for-18 from three-point range.

Second Half

• The Hawks cut the lead to 57-41 on two free throws from Jaron Broomfield with 15:45 remaining in the second half.
• Following a free throw from Drew Stack to trim the advantage to 59-43, Vassar pushed the lead to 71-43 on a 12-0 run behind 11 points from Lee.
• Another dunk from Denham and a jumper from junior Sebastian Medina gave the Brewers its largest lead of the game at 78-46 with 8:09 left in regulation.
• Hartford would get back within 18 points with 2:30 remaining on two free throws from Ben Miller.
• Vassar closed the second half shooting 31.4-percent overall, including 4-for-16 from three, and went 10-for-17 from the free throw line.
• The Hawks finished the second 20 minutes shooting 37.5-percent from the field while connecting on 9-for-22 from three and 8-for-15 from the free throw line,

For The Brewers

• Lee finished with a career-high 35 points, which were two shy of tying the Vassar program record for points in a single game, on 12-for-22 shooting (8-for-14 from three).
• Fitzgerald recorded 11 points, six rebounds and three assists along with Neuenhaus adding 10 points, nine boards and two assists.
• Denham registered 10 points, nine rebounds, two assists and five steals while sophomore Will Gregory chipped in nine points off the bench.
• First year Gyasi Zinn posted four points and eight boards and junior Kreekor Karageuzian tallied four points, four rebounds and two assists.

For The Hawks

• Stack scored a team-high 14 points while Cooper Galdenzi and Miller each posted 13 points off the bench.
• Joshua Petion recorded seven points, two assists and three rebounds while Pelzer garnered six points and six rebounds.

Game Statistics

• Vassar finished the day shooting 41.9-percent from the field, including 12-for-33 from three-point distance, and went 15-for-22 from the free throw line.
• Hartford closed the contest shooting 35.3-percent overall while going 13-for-40 from three and 13-for-22 from the free throw stripe.
• The Brewers held a slim 15-13 edge in points off turnovers and 22-20 in second chance points.
• Vassar also held 32-18 advantage in points in the paint and 14-5 in fast break points.

Up Next

• Vassar returns to the court on Friday, November 21 against New Paltz in the Hudson Valley Classic on the campus of Mount Saint Mary at 5:30 p.m.
• Hartford travels to Dean for a midweek matchup on Wednesday evening.

All-Tournament Team

• Elijah Thomas (Colby-Sawyer)
• Josh Garelle (SUNY Geneseo)
• Drew Stack (Hartford)
• Nathan Denham (Vassar)
• Avery Lee - MVP (Vassar)