POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — A strong close to the first half preceded Southern Vermont College maintaining its upper hand through the second period Wednesday night as the visiting Mountaineers defeated Vassar College 76-64 in non-conference men's basketball action.
SVC went on a 13-3 run to close out the first half, going up 43-32 at the break. The Mountaineers added a one-point advantage in the second stanza while holding off the Brewers as they moved to 5-2 on the year with their fourth straight win.
Next up for Southern Vermont is the seventh annual Tri-state Shootout Tournament, this year's being hosted by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute over the weekend. SVC takes on Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the second game of the opening round; Saturday's winners will play for the tournament title on Sunday at 3 p.m. while the consolation game is set to tip-off at 1 p.m. Southern Vermont has already defeated MCLA this year, topping the Trailblazers 102-72 in the season opener.
Mountaineer junior Nate Goldsmith (Capitol Heights, Md.) led the team with 16 points off the bench, adding seven rebounds and two assists to his line. Senior William Bromirski (Cambridge, N.Y.) followed with 13 points on a 3-7 performance from behind the arc while pulling down a team-best eight boards; he now has 89 three-pointers as a Mountaineer in just 36 games, moving himself up to fifth on the all-time program record list.
SVC senior DeShawn Hamlet (Hartford, Conn.) had eight points and four rebounds while classmate Jeff James (Bowie, Md.) tallied another eight points and five rebounds in reserve time. Fellow senior Casey Hall (Albany, N.Y.) notched seven points while swiping a game-best four steals in the win.
The two sides were nearly identical in field goal shooting, SVC going 25-62 (40.3 percent) from the floor as the Brewers hit on 23-57 (40.4 percent) attempts. Vassar took a slim 41-40 edge on the glass and owned a 15-7 advantage in second-chance points. The Mountaineers turned the ball over only seven times to VC's 16, using those mishaps for a 16-5 upper hand in points off turnovers.
Vassar completed an and-one play off the opening tip for an early lead, but Southern Vermont came back with eight unanswered points on threes by Bromirski and sophomore Daemond Carter (Forestville, Md.) to go on top 10-6. The Brewers regained the lead with three straight baskets before the teams traded scores through the midway of the first half. Goldsmith converted an old-fashioned three-point play of his own to give SVC the 26-25 lead at the 6:59 mark, and he then sank two free throws as the Mountaineers went into the bonus with 6:31 left in the half.
Vassar stayed close as both sides hit baskets on their ensuing possessions, but Bromirski knocked down his second trey from about five feet behind the left side of the perimeter to start a 13-2 SVC run. Hall subsequently stole the ball from the Brewers and ran the floor for a nice bucket in transition, Goldsmith then grabbing a defensive board and passing it down the floor to James for the 39-31 advantage. Mountaineer junior Davante Jordan (Great Mills, Md.) followed with a lay-in before making a nice poke-and-score in the final minute, a single VC free throw then sending the game to intermission with the visitors up 43-32.
The Brewers scored the first four points of the second half, but Carter then made a great steal at the top of the perimeter, picked up the ball and took it to the other end for the layup. Scoring went back-and-forth before Hamlet took a pass and went in on the left side, cutting across the baseline to finish a pretty reverse layup for the 50-42 upper hand. James then stuffed a Vassar layup attempt and collected the loose ball before finding junior Rayshawn Taylor (Silver Spring, Md.) on the outlet pass for a quick basket and 10-point advantage.
Southern Vermont maintained its separation through the 10:31 mark before Goldsmith took a defensive rebound and ran the floor to find an open Bromirski on the left side of the perimeter; the Mountaineer senior drilled his third trey of the game, forcing Vassar to use a timeout. A technical foul on the VC bench allowed Hall to go to the line and calmly knock down two free throws with 8:31 to play for SVC to go up 63-48, and the Mountaineers would carry their lead to the victory.
Goldsmith swished a basket from downtown to make it 68-53 with 5:26 on the clock, but the Brewers followed with eight straight points to cut the deficit to seven. Southern Vermont went 5-6 from the free throw line in the final minute of play to keep its cushion as Vassar was unable to overcome the Mountaineer advantage.