Rochester, NY - Senior
Shea Fitzgerald broke the program's career free throws made record and led all scorers with 26 points to lead the #RV Vassar College Men's Basketball team to a season-opening 68-60 victory over #RV Denison in the opening game of the Chuck Resler Tournament at Rochester. With the win, Head Coach
Ryan Mee becomes the second coach in school history to reach the 100 career wins milestone.
First Half
- Denison opened the game on a 7-0 run behind five points from Liam Taylor and a bucket from Samson Zack.
- Vassar climbed back into the game and tied the game at 11 following five straight points from first year Lawrence Lam.
- Following a lay-in from Luke Salkowski to even the score at 13, Vassar reeled off an eight-point run behind five points from Fitzgerald and a three-pointer from junior Parker Neuenhaus to take a 21-13 lead at the 9:21 mark.
- A Fitzgerald triple pushed the Brewers ahead 24-15 with 6:24 to go before a seven-point run from Denison, capped by a Ezra Sixto dunk, to cut the deficit to 24-22.
- Senior Avery Lee's layup put Vassar ahead by five with 2:24 remaining in the first half but Denison closed the halftime lead to 29-28 on a Zack triple in the final minute of the first half.
- Vassar finished the opening 20 minutes shooting 40.9-percent overall while knocking down 4-for-8 from three and 7-for-10 from the free throw line.
- Denison was limited to 28.6-percent from the field but went 5-for-15 from three-point range and 3-for-4 from the free throw stripe.
Second Half
- Denison pulled ahead 37-33 six minutes into the second half on another dunk from Sixto before Vassar evened the score following consecutive makes from Lee and Neuenhaus.
- A three-point play from Fitzgerald put the Brewers back ahead before the lead bounced back and forth with Dension tying the game at 44 with 9:09 to go.
- VC used an 8-0 run, led by two free throws from Fitzgerald, four straight points from sophomore Gyasi Zinn and a lay-in from Lam, to go ahead 52-44 at the 5:20 mark.
- Two free throws from Lam at the 3:22 mark pushed the Vassar lead to a game-high 10 points before the Big Red reduced the lead to seven on a Salkowski bucket.
- A corner three from Fitzgerald with just over a minute helped the Brewers put the game away with a 10-point advantage and salt away the clock with strong free throw shooting down the stretch.
- Vassar finished the second half shooting an impressive 54.2-percent from the field and converted on 12-for-13 from the free throw line.
- Denison improved to 44-percent from the field in the final 20 minutes but were limited to 2-for-11 from beyond three-point range.
For The Brewers
- Fitzgerald recorded a game-high 26 points on 6-for-13 shooting and 11-for-11 from the free throw line along with four assists. The senior now holds the career free throws made record with 317, breaking the record of Tyson Brazell '08 of 312.
- Lam tallied 12 points, five rebounds and three assists off the bench in his collegiate debut while Neuenhaus tallied 10 points and six boards.
- Lee added 10 points, four assists and four rebounds along with Zinn posting eight points and seven rebounds.
- Senior Kreekor Karageuzian chipped in four assists and four rebounds while classmate Sebastian Medina swiped four steals.
For The Big Red
- Salkowski notched 14 points, six rebounds and four steals while Jack Steinbach posted 14 points and two assists off the bench.
- Taylor garnered 10 points and two steals along with Zack totaling eight points and three rebounds.
- Sixto chipped in four points, four boards and three steals while Ellis Appiah added three points, four rebounds and two assists.
Game Statistics
- Vassar finished the contest shooting 47.8-percent while going 5-for-12 from three and 19-for-23 from the free throw line.
- Denison closed the night shooting 35-percent overall along with 7-for-26 from three and 11-for-13 from the free throw line.
- The Brewers outscored the Big Red 32-22 in the paint while Denison scored all seven second chance points in the game.
Up Next
- Vassar will play the winner of tonight's matchup between Rochester and Allegheny in the championship game tomorrow at 8:00 p.m.
- Denision will face off with the loser of tonight's game in the consolation game at 6:00 p.m.
