Poughkeepsie, NY - Junior Shea Fitzgerald scored a game-high 22 points, including a three-pointer with nine seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime, and senior Parker Neuenhaus garnered his third double-double of the season to lift the Vassar College Men's Basketball team to a key 68-61 comeback victory in overtime over Union at home on Friday evening.

Vassar's record improves to 16-6 overall and 12-3 in Liberty League play while the Garnet Chargers drop to 17-5 on the season and 12-3 in conference action. With the victory, Vassar holds the postseason tiebreaker over Union and currently holds the second position in the regular season conference standings.

First Half

• Both teams struggled early offensively as the Garnet Chargers took a 7-3 lead on a Jack Plesser jumper with 13:04 left in the first half.
• The Brewers evened the game at seven on a lay-in and two made free throws from senior Nathan Denham at the 12:28 mark.
• Matthew Garside's layup pushed Union ahead 13-9 until a three-point play from Neuenhaus and a bucket from senior Kreekor Karageuzian cut the lead to one at 15-14 with six minutes remaining.
• A three from Garside and a lay-in from Tanner Tedesco increased the Garnet Chargers lead to 20-14 at the 4:35 mark.
• Neuenhaus' tip-in with 53 seconds left brought VC within five but a Garside three-pointer before the end of the half gave Union a 26-18 lead.
• VC was held to just 6-for-36 from the field in the first half and 0-for-7 from three-point range.
• Union finished the opening 20 minutes shooting 31.3-percent overall and 4-for-16 from three.

Second Half

• The Garnet Chargers lead grew to double digits on two Plesser free throws before Vassar reeled off a 14-2 run to take a 32-30 lead at the 14:35 mark.
• VC's run was spurred by five points from Neuenhaus, a three from Fitzgerald and buckets from Karageuzian, Denham and senior Sacha Greenberg.
• Two free throws from Neuenhaus and a layup from Fitzgerald pushed the Brewers lead to 38-34 before Union battled back to even the score at 40 on a Garside three with 6:40 to go.
• Cade Furse's three-pointer and a Tedesco driving lay-in put the Garnet Chargers ahead 45-40 but Vassar stayed within three on back-to-back makes from Greenberg.
• Karageuzian's layup with 49 seconds left pushed the Brewers back within a point before a Dufort make with 22 seconds left gave Union a 49-46 lead.
• Fitzgerald's big three-pointer came with nine seconds left in regulation as he knocked down a fadeway jumper on the right win to send the game in overtime.
• The Brewers improved to 44.8-percent from the field while going 2-for-6 from three-point territory.
• Union slowed to 28.6-percent overall and 3-for-11 from three-point distance in the second half.

Overtime

• Fitzgerald opened the scoring in the overtime period as he knocked down a three with 4:06 to go to put the Brewers back in front for the first time since 7:33 mark of the second half.
• Two free throws from Will Yakoobian cut the deficit to 53-51 at the 1:46 mark until VC used a Fitzgerald jumper and two free throws each from Neuenhaus and Karageuzian to expand the lead to 59-51.
• Garside's make with 40 seconds remaining reduced the lead to six but free throws from Karageuzian and Denham rolled the lead up to nine with 26 seconds to go.
• Union got as close as five with five seconds left on a Dufort three until two free throws from Fitzgerald gave VC the final 68-61 lead.

For The Brewers

• Fitzgerald garnered a game-high 22 points and seven rebounds while Neuenhaus notched a double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds and added four blocks and two assists.
• Karageuzian tallied 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists along with Denham chipping in seven points, seven rebounds and two steals.
• Greenberg added six points off the bench and first year Gyasi Zinn grabbed 12 rebounds.

For The Garnet Chargers

• Garside recorded a team-high 19 points and three steals along with Plesser registering 10 points, nine boards and three steals.
• Dufort finished with a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Tedesco posted eight points and six assists.
• Furse added 10 points off the bench and Yakoobian totaled eight rebounds and two assists.

Game Statistics

• Vassar finished the night shooting 29.2-percent from the field while being held to 3-for-15 from three but converted 23-of-27 from the free throw line.
• Union shot 31.4-percent overall in the game, including 8-for-31 from three-point range, and finished 9-for-12 from the free throw stripe.
• VC held a 34-22 edge in points in the paint, 17-10 in second chance points and 12-11 in points off turnovers.

Up Next

• Vassar will host its final regular season game tomorrow afternoon for Senior Day at 4:00 p.m. against RIT
• Union travels to Bard tomorrow afternoon.