ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY (February 15, 2017) — The Vassar College men's basketball team (6-18, 2-13 Liberty) couldn't overcame a slow first half, as Bard College (4-20, 2-13 Liberty) walked away from the Stevenson Athletic Center with a 67-56 win on Wednesday.
Jesse Browne scored 13 points, while Alex Seffadded 12 to round out VC's leading scorers. Owen Murray grabbed a game-best nine boards and dished out a team-high five assists, while Tony Caletti set a personal record with five steals on the night.
The Brewers shot 38 percent from the floor and 19 percent (5-of-27) from distance, while the home team shot 44 and 35 percent (9-of-26), respectively.
Three Raptors reached double-digit scoring in Harry Johnson (18p), Chris Lockwood (12p) and Armando Dunn (10p). Dunn also led in rebounds (8) and blocks (2), while Lockwood registered a game-high seven assists.
Vassar opened the contest with a 7-3 run, capped by Browne's three-point play. The lead swapped back and forth nine times from there. Seff was responsible for two of those lead changes, connecting on back-to-back layups for the Brewers to make it 11-10 and 13-12 about midway through the half.
Shortly thereafter, the Raptors ripped off eight straight points for a 22-15 advantage, the largest lead for either side to that point.
Vassar responded with a 7-2 run of its own, capped by Murray's tip-in to pull within two, 24-22, but Bard strung together 10 straight points, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Johnson, to take a 34-22 advantage into the break.
Both sides were hot from downtown to start the second half. Johnson picked up where he left off, draining the first triple of the period, but Kyle Kappes hit back-to-back threes himself to bookend Lockwood's trey.
Kappes' second three brought VC within 12, 40-28. The Brewers came even closer with an 11-2 run, 50-43. Browne fueled the surge with a triple and a jumper before Seff capped it with a layup.
Down the stretch, Mattie Mrlik went deep before going inside for back-to-back baskets, bringing VC within 59-54. Seff brought the squad within five once more on a pair of free throws, 61-56, but that was the closest the Brewers came to flipping the lead, as the Raptors scored the final six points of the game from the line to even the series at one.
Vassar returns to Poughkeepsie for the final game of the regular season, welcoming Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to the Athletics & Fitness Center on Friday, Feb. 17. Tipoff is timed for 8 p.m.
—VASSAR—