Rochester, NY - Junior Kreekor Karageuzian recorded his first career double-double and classmate Shea Fitzgerald tallied a season-high 22 points to lift the Vassar College Men's Basketball team to its fifth straight conference victory to begin Liberty League play with a 73-64 road triumph over RIT. The Brewers improve to 9-3 overall and 5-0 in Liberty League play while the Tigers fall to 4-10 on the season and 1-6 in conference action.

First Half

• After opening the contest knotted at eight, Vassar pulled ahead 12-8 on buckets from senior Sacha Greenberg and junior Eric Zhang at the 14:10 mark.
• RIT got back within one on a three-point play from Josiah Turner until the Brewers used five points from sophomore Parker Neuenhaus and a jumper from Fitzgerald to earn a 19-13 lead with just under 11 minutes remaining.
• Neuenhaus expanded the Vassar lead to 24-15 with 8:59 left in the first half after connecting on a three-pointer and adding a layup on back-to-back possessions.
• Five consecutive points from Turner trimmed the lead down to 24-22 with seven minutes remaining in the opening 20 minutes of action.
• Vassar closed the first half on a 11-0 run, led by five points from Fitzgerald, to earn a 35-22 lead heading into the halftime break.
• The Brewers ended the first 20 minutes shooting 41.2-percent from the field while going 4-for-12 from three and 3-for-7 from the free throw line.
• RIT was limited to 27.3-percent overall in the first half and went just 3-for-16 from beyond the three-point line.

Second Half

• Following a 5-0 quick run by RIT to trim the lead to 35-27, Vassar responded with a layup from Karageuzian and a three from Greenberg to push the lead back to 13 points.
• Back-to-back triples from Zac Ditzel brought the Tigers within 43-37 at the 14:04 mark.
• Muhsin Muhammad cut the Vassar lead down to 51-46 with 10:33 remaining before six straight points from the Brewers, led by four from Fitzgerald, extended the advantage to double-digits at 57-46.
• Once again, RIT trimmed the lead down on a three-point play from Brody Brown to make it 60-56 with 5:59 left in regulation.
• VC rattled off a 9-0 run over the next four minutes behind buckets from Fitzgerald, Karageuzian and first year Gyasi Zinn and a triple from sophomore Will Gregory to hold a 69-56 lead with two minutes remaining.
• The Tigers got back within five with 38 seconds left following four points from Turner and lay-ins from Muhammad and Xavier Nelson.
• Karageuzian and Fitzgerald each hit a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds and the Brewers held RIT off the scoreboard to earn its fifth straight conference win.
• VC improved to 48.9-percent from the field in the second half along with going 3-for-11 from three and 7-for-10 from the free throw line.
• RIT finished the second half shooting 48.6-percent overall while shooting 4-for-11 from three-point range and 4-for-7 from the free throw line.

For The Brewers

• Fitzgerald finished with a team-high 22 points (8-for-12 shooting), four steals, three assists and three rebounds while Karageuzian notched his first career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
• Neuenhaus posted 16 points, two boards and two assists along with junior Sebastian Medina adding five points, six rebounds and three assists.
• Greenberg recorded eight points and six rebounds while Zinn tallied four points, 10 rebounds and three blocks off the bench.

For The Tigers

• Turner poured in a game-high 31 points on 12-for-21 shooting along with nine rebounds and four assists.
• Ditzel registered 15 points (6-for-10) while Brown added eight points and four boards.

Game Statistics

• Vassar finished the evening shooting 44.4-percent from the field while going 7-for-23 from three-point range and 10-for-17 from the free throw line.
• RIT closed the game shooting 38.2-percent overall, including 7-for-27 from three, and 5-for-8 from the free throw stripe.
• Vassar held a 10-7 edge in points off turnovers and outscored the Tigers 40-36 in the paint.
• RIT held a 19-11 advantage in second chance points.

Up Next

• Vassar will continue its road trip against #RV Union tomorrow afternoon at 5:00 p.m.
• RIT will play host to RPI tomorrow at 4:00 p.m.