Poughkeepsie, NY - Junior Shea Fitzgerald and sophomore Parker Neuenhaus combined for 48 points on 18-for-25 shooting to lead the Vassar College Men's Basketball team to a midweek victory over Skidmore, 82-75, at the Athletics and Fitness Center on Tuesday evening. Vassar's record improves to 14-5 overall and 10-2 in Liberty League play while the Thoroughbreds drop to 9-10 and 5-7 in conference action.

First Half

• Five points from Aidan Roy and a jumper from Charlie Fantom put the Thoroughbreds ahead 7-2 early in the first half before Vassar used two buckets from Neuenhaus and junior Sebastian Medina to cut the deficit to two.
• A 9-0 run, led by five points from Nick Padilla, pushed Skidmore ahead 16-5 at the 13:01 mark.
• VC responded to get within two on four consecutive points from Fitzgerald and a lay-in from senior Nathan Denham with 9:27 remaining.
• The Brewers took its first lead of the contest at 22-20 with 7:24 remaining after back-to-back buckets from junior Eric Zhang and a jumper from Neuenhaus.
• Following a Fantom make to get back within 29-26, the Brewers expanded the advantage to 32-26 on a Neuenhaus make and a Medina free throw.
• A Fantom triple helped bring Skidmore within 35-32 in the final minute of the half before a Fitzgerald three-pointer gave VC a 38-32 halftime lead.
• Vassar finished the first half shooting 51.7-percent from the field while shooting 4-for-10 from three and 4-for-7 from the free throw line.
• Skidmore shot 38.2-percent in the first half while being held to 3-for-17 from three and 3-for-8 from the free throw line.

Second Half

• Vassar's lead expanded to nine on a three from Fitzgerald before Jack LaGarde's lay-in cut it to five with 17:30 to go.
• A quick 6-0 run behind two free throw from junior Kreekor Karageuzian, a Denham dunk and a Neuenhaus make expanded the Vassar lead to double digits at 49-38.
• Back-to-back threes from Fitzgerald and senior Sacha Greenberg along with a layup from sophomore Will Gregory grew the Brewers advantage to 17 with 11:35 remaining.
• Another Fitzgerald triple with 9:46 to go pushed the Vassar lead to a game-high 19 points.
• Skidmore eventually cut the lead down to 10 with 2:22 remaining following a Joey Skoric bucket and then got within single digits for the first time since the 15:40 mark on another Skoric layup with 1:30 left in regulation.
• Karageuzian and Fitzgerald each converted two free throws in the final seconds to help Vassar to its 10th conference victory of the season.
• The Brewers improved to a blistering 64-percent shooting in the second half while converting on 6-for-10 from three and 6-for-7 from the free throw line.
• Skidmore closed the second half shooting 60.7-percent in the second half and knocked down 5-of-6 from three and 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

For The Brewers

• Fitzgerald finished a strong night with 27 points on 8-for-13 from the field and 6-for-8 from three-point distance along with five assists, five boards and two steals.
• Neuenhaus garnered 21 points on 10-for-12 shooting and added four assists and three rebounds.
• Gregory added 10 points off the bench while Karageuzian tallied six points, six assists and three steals.
• Denham totaled six points and seven rebounds along with Medina adding five points, four boards, two blocks and three steals.

For The Thoroughbreds

• Padilla posted a team-high 26 points on 11-for-16 from the field along with Roy tallying 16 points, two assists and two steals.
• Fantom recorded 10 points and five boards while Skoric registered 10 points and nine rebounds.
• Will Wertz added nine points off the bench and LaGarde finished with four points, six rebounds and three assists.

Game Statistics

• Vassar finished the night shooting an efficient 57.4-percent from the field while knocking down 10-of-20 from the three-point line and 10-for-14 from the free throw line.
• Skidmore concluded the matchup shooting 48.4-percent overall while going 8-for-23 from three and 7-for-12 from the free throw stripe.
• VC outscored Skidmore 42-32 in points in the paint and 14-12 in points off turnovers.
• The Thoroughbreds held a 21-2 edge in second chance points.

Up Next

• Vassar returns to the road with a matchup with Bard on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m.
• Skidmore makes the short trek to Union on Friday.