Schenectady, NY - Junior Shea Fitzgerald led all scorers with 28 points to help send the third-seeded Vassar College Men's Basketball team to a 72-67 victory over second-seeded Union in the Liberty League Championship at the Viniar Athletic Center on Friday evening.

Vassar's record moves to 19-8 overall, matching the most wins in a single season, as the Brewers advance to the third-ever conference championship final appearance (2013-14, 2021-22). Union's season comes to a close at 19-7.

First Half

• Vassar started the contest with a 9-1 lead as sophomore Parker Neuenhaus poured in four points, Fitzgerald knocked down a triple and senior Nathan Denham threw down a dunk in the opening three and a half minutes.
• First year Kas Mirza and classmate Gyasi Zinn combined for six points over a two minutes stretch to expand the advantage to 17-7 at the 13:18 mark.
• Cade Furse's lay-in put the Garnet Chargers within 21-11 with 8:54 remaining in the first half before VC rattled off a quick 7-0 spurt behind four points from Fitzgerald and a Mirza triple to go ahead 28-11.
• Union cut the lead to 10 at 28-18 following a three from Matthew Garside and back-to-back makes from Jack Plesser and Scott Schmitt.
• A three from Neuenhaus and a tip-in from Denham expanded the lead to 33-18 with 3:01 remaining.
• Union closed the half on a 9-3 run as Harrison Collins' layup with four seconds left cut the halftime deficit to 36-27.
• The Brewers finished the opening 20 minutes shooting 36.8-percent from the field while knocking down 5-for-11 from three-point territory.
• Union concluded the first half shooting 35.3-percent overall and 2-for-10 from the three-point line.

Second Half

• Five straight points from Dufort cut the lead to 38-32 with 18:52 remaining before a Fitzgerald three and a Neuenhaus jumper pushed the lead back to double digits.
• Following Neuenhaus' layup at the 16:28 mark to give the Brewers a 48-36 lead, Union rattled off a 9-0 run, led by six points from Plesser and a three from Tanner Tedesco, to get within 48-45 with 14:24 to go.
• VC used a 7-2 run behind five points from Fitzgerald and two from Denham to push the lead back to nine with 12:55 remaining in regulation.
• Three-pointers from Harrison Collins and Will Yakoobian along with a Plesser mid-range jumper cut the deficit to 58-55 with just under nine minutes left.
• After Denham's layup pushed the lead back to five at the 7:45 mark, Union scored the next eight points as Tedesco's jumper at the 4:49 mark put the Garnet Chargers ahead for the first time.
• Plesser's lay-in gave Union a 63-60 advantage before Fitzgerald's triple tied the game at 63 at the under-four media timeout.
• A big corner three-pointer from Fitzgerald put VC back ahead by four with 2:13 remaining.
• Garside's driving layup at the 1:15 mark cut the deficit to two at 67-65.
• After Denham and Garside each split a pair of free throws, junior Kreekor Karageuzian calmly knocked down two free throws to push the lead to 70-66.
• Tedesco went to the line with 14 seconds remaining and split a pair of free throws to make it a three-point game.
• Fitzgerald added two more free throws to seal the game and send the Brewers to its third Liberty League final in program history.
• Vassar finished the second half shooting 40.7-percent from the field, including 5-for-6 from the three-point line, and went 9-for-11 from the free throw line.
• Union closed the final 20 minutes shooting a blistering 61.5-percent overall and 4-for-11 from the three-point stripe.

For The Brewers

• Fitzgerald led the way with a game-high 28 points (7-for-14 FG, 6-for-8 3PT), five rebounds, three steals and two assists.
• Neuenhaus registered 15 points and six rebounds along with Denham tallying 12 points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
• Zinn added nine points and eight rebounds while Mirza chipped in six points off the bench.
• Karageuzian totaled two points and six assists and junior Sebastian Medina secured six assists and three blocks.

For The Garnet Chargers

• Plesser earned a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds along with four assists and two blocks.
• Tedesco recorded eight points, six assists and six rebounds while Garside notched six points, three boards and three assists.
• Dufort chipped in 10 points and Yakoobian registered three points and five boards off the bench.

Game Statistics

• Vassar finished the game shooting 38.5-percent overall while going 10-for-17 from three and 12-for-17 from the free throw line.
• Union closed the contest shooting 46.7-percent from the field and connected on 6-for-21 from three and 5-for-8 from the free throw line.
• Vassar outscored Union 16-14 in points off turnovers while Union held the edge in points in the paint at 36-26 and second chance points at 11-10.

Up Next

• Vassar will travel to top-seeded RPI on Sunday afternoon at a time to be announced.