Troy, NY - The Vassar College Men's Basketball made a late surge in the final minutes but the comeback fell short as the Brewers fell 61-58 on the road against RPI on Saturday afternoon. Vassar's record moves to 15-6 overall and 11-3 in Liberty League play while the Engineers improve to 16-5 on the season and 12-2 in conference action.

First Half

• VC opened the game with a 7-3 lead on five straight points from sophomore Parker Neuenhaus and a layup from senior Sacha Greenberg.
• A three-pointer from Yechiel Stewart and a lay-in from Andrew Deppe put RPI ahead 11-10 for its first lead at the 13:08 mark.
• Vassar regained the lead at 17-13 following a bucket from junior Kreekor Karageuzian and a triple from junior Sebastian Medina with 9:56 left in the first half.
• An 11-0 run over the next five points, led by five points from PJ Scalisi and four points from Deppe, gave the Engineers a 24-17 lead at the 4:52 mark.
• Vassar battled back to cut the lead to 30-29 on a three-pointer from junior Shea Fitzgerald with 22 seconds left until Kellen Driscoll hit a three with five seconds left to put RPI ahead 33-29 at the half.
• VC finished the opening 20 minutes shooting an even 50-percent from the field and connected on 5-for-11 from three-point distance.
• The Engineers closed the first half shooting 44.8-percent overall while drilling 7-of-9 from beyond the three-point line.

Second Half

• Two free throws from Stewart and a Deppe layup expanded the lead to 42-32 with 14:36 remaining before a three-point play from Fitzgerald cut the lead to eight.
• Five points from Nate Tawiah-Boateng and a bucket from Billy Feeks expanded RPI's lead to 14 at 49-35 with 10:31 remaining.
• VC got back within 10 on two free throws from Fitzgerald and a layup from junior Eric Zhang with 8:50 to go.
• The Engineers grew its lead to 14 points on back-to-back makes from Deppe before the Brewers made a late charge in the final four minutes.
• A lay-in from senior Nathan Denham followed by a Fitzgerald triple with 2:47 remaining put the Brewers back within single digits.
• Another lay-in from Fitzgerald followed by a Neuenhaus bucket trimmed the RPI lead down to six with 1:41 left in regulation.
• Following a defensive stop, Fitzgerald connected on a three-pointer to reduce the lead to just three with 50 seconds remaining.
• Karageuzian forced a steal with 25 seconds left and converted a layup to bring the Brewers within one point.
• Driscoll went 2-for-2 from the free throw line with 18 seconds left to give the Engineers a 61-58 lead.
• Vassar got several three-pointers off in the final seven seconds but were unable to convert as RPI earned the three-point victory.
• VC cooled to 34.5-percent in the second half and converted just 3-for-14 from three-point territory.
• RPI finished the second 20 minutes shooting 55.6-percent from the field but went only 1-for-7 from three-point distance.

For The Brewers

• Fitzgerald recorded a game-high 23 points and six assists while Neuenhaus tallied 11 points and four boards.
• Karageuzian finished with nine points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals along with Denham registered nine points, five rebounds, four steals and two blocks.
• Medina added three points, five assists, four boards and two steals.

For The Engineers

• Deppe garnered 17 points (8-for-12 FG), five rebounds and two assists while Scalisi totaled 11 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals.
• Stewart posted 11 points and four steals along with Feeks adding eight points and three assists.
• Driscoll chipped in five points, four assists and three rebounds while Tawiah-Boateng finished with nine points, two assists and five rebounds off the bench.

Game Statistics

• Vassar finished the game shooting 41.5-percent from the field while going 8-for-25 from three and 6-for-9 from the free throw line.
• RPI closed the matchup shooting 48.9-percent overall, including 8-for-16 from three-point distance, and finished 7-for-12 from the free throw line.
• Vassar outscored the Engineers 20-16 in points off turnovers and 5-2 in second chance points.
• The two squads finished even at 26 in points in the paint.

Up Next

• Vassar returns home for its final home weekend of conference play as the Brewers square off with Union on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
• RPI also plays its final home conference weekend starting with RIT on Friday.