Poughkeepsie, NY - The Vassar College Men's Basketball team dropped an overtime heartbreaker at home on Saturday afternoon as the Brewers fell 78-76 against Ithaca in the final regular season contest of the season. Vassar celebrated its three seniors on Saturday for Senior Day as Devyn Benson, Luke Adams and Alex Walters were honored prior to the game.

Vassar's record moves to 16-9 overall and 12-6 in conference play while the Bombers improve to 16-9 on the season and 13-5 in Liberty League action. The Brewers will be seeded third in the Liberty League Championship and will host sixth-seeded St. Lawrence on Tuesday evening in the First Round. Ithaca earned the two seed and will have a first round bye.

First Half

• Vassar opened the first half with an 8-2 lead following five points from Adams and a triple from Walters.
• Ithaca drew even at 10 on a three-pointer from Logan Wendell before VC battled back to take a 19-15 lead on a jumper from sophomore Sebastian Medina.
• The Bombers took a two-point lead at 22-20 on a three from Aidan Holmes until junior Sacha Greenberg's putback evened the game at 24.
• A layup from Evan Cabral and a Wendell bucket regained the lead at 30-27 with five minutes left in the first half.
• Vassar closed the first half on a 10-0 run to take a 37-30 lead into the halftime break, led by four points each from junior JP Miranda and Adams.
• VC shot 39.5-percent overall in the first 20 minutes while going just 3-for-15 from the three-point line.
• Ithaca finished the first half shooting 38.7-percent from the field and connected on 4-for-10 from three-point territory.

Second Half

• VC's lead expanded to nine points at 42-33 on a Walters three-pointer with 17:45 left in regulation.
• Ithaca answered with a 12-2 run over the next eight minutes to earn a 47-44 lead on a Wendell bucket with 9:39 remaining.
• A three from Adams and back-to-back makes from Miranda regained the lead at 51-49 with eight minutes to go.
• The Bombers regained the lead and expanded the advantage to 57-51 following a free throw make from Chris Leysath.
• Four straight free throws from sophomore Avery Lee cut the lead down to two with just 4:32 remaining in the second half.
• Following a Wendell layup at the 2:51 mark to put Ithaca ahead 61-57, junior Nathan Denham knocked down two free throws and Miranda drilled a triple to put VC back ahead 62-61.
• Wendell regained the lead for Ithaca with 52 seconds left before Adams' lay-in with 25 seconds to go gave Vassar a 64-63 lead.
• Leysath was then fouled with nine seconds left and split a pair of free throws which sent the game to overtime.
• Vassar was held to 34.6-percent overall while going 3-for-12 from three-point distance.
• Ithaca improved to 48-percent from the field along with connecting on 3-for-9 from three-point range.

Overtime

• A three-point play from Evan Cabral put the Bombers up 69-65 at the 2:48 mark before a jumper from Lee and two free throws from Miranda tied the game at 69 with 1:52 remaining.
• Wendell's three-point play regained the lead for Ithaca with 1:36 left and a Holmes three-pointer gave Ithaca a 75-70 advantage at the 1:03 mark.
• Adams drilled a three-pointer with 45 seconds left to cut the lead down to two points followed by Wendell making two free throws to go ahead 77-73 with nine seconds left.
• Adams once again knocked down a deep three-pointer with two seconds remaining but Ithaca's Wendell made two more free throws to earn the 79-76 victory.

For The Brewers

• Adams finished with a team-high 20 points along with Walters tallying 15 points and seven rebounds.
• Lee recorded 11 points and two boards while Miranda added 19 points and four rebounds off the bench.
• Denham chipped in four points, nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

For The Bombers

• Wendell poured in a game-high 38 points on 13-for-20 from the field, including 4-for-6 from three, and added four steals and four rebounds.
• Holmes registered 15 points and eight rebounds along with Cabral adding seven points, 10 rebounds and two assists.
• Leysath tallied six points and 11 rebounds while Jaylon O'Neal recorded four points and two steals.

Game Statistics

• Vassar closed the contest shooting 38.6-percent from the field, including 8-for-31 from three, and went 14-for-20 from the free throw line.
• Ithaca finished the game shooting 44.3-percent overall while going 8-for-21 from three-point range and 17-for-29 from the free throw stripe.
• Vassar held a slim edge in points off turnovers at 19-16 and fast break points at 10-8.
• The Bombers garnered a 16-12 advantage in second chance points and 36-28 in second chance points.

Up Next

• Vassar will host sixth-seeded St. Lawrence on Tuesday evening in the First Round of the Liberty League Championship. Start time is still yet to be determined.
• Ithaca earned a bye and will host the winner of Vassar and St. Lawrence on Friday in the Semifinals of the Liberty League Championship.