TRUJILLO ALTO, PR (December 28, 2015) – The Vassar College men's basketball team shot 44.4 percent from three-point land, connecting on eight triples, defeating Gustavus Adolphus College 52-51 in action from Coliseo Ruben Zayas Montanez in day one of the Puerto Rico Clasico Monday.

The production from the trio of senior Erikson Wasyl (Durham, CT/Coginchaug), sophomore Jesse Browne (Barrington, RI/Deerfield Academy) and freshman Paul Grinde (Virginia Beach, VA/Cape Henry Collegiate) was key to the win, as the three players combined to score 51 of the team's 52 points on the afternoon.

"Wasyl and Browne were terrific all game," said head coach BJ Dunne. "They were aggressive off the bounce and made timely baskets. Grinde was super productive in limited minutes as well for us."

Though the Brewers (4-4) didn't shoot well inside the arc on Monday, they did do a nice job of disrupting the Gustie (3-5) offense. VC held Gustavus Adolphus to 37.5 percent (21-56) shooting from the floor, which also saw GAC connect on just four of its 15 three-point attempts.

The Gusties led early through the midway part of the first half, taking their biggest lead of eight at 7:43 of the opening period after a three-pointer from Riley Sharbono to make the score 22-14. From that point, Vassar outscored its opposition 14-5 over the final seven minutes of the half to take a narrow 28-27 edge into halftime.

Browne and Wasyl scored 26 of the Brewer's 28 first-half points, while Chad Poppen and Brody Ziegler each had five points apiece to pace GAC. After the break, the two squads traded leads over the first three minutes, but Vassar jumped back on top with 16:22 to play on a three-pointer from Browne.

VC opened up its biggest lead of eight at 41-33 after a layup from Grinde with just over 10 minutes to play. Gustavus Adolphus didn't go away though, taking its final lead of the game of 48-47 with 1:51 left on a triple by Poppen. Seconds later, Wasyl answered with a trifecta of his own to put Vassar back up two, and Grinde pushed the lead out to four points on a driving layup with 31 seconds to play.

After a missed free throw, GAC's Chris Narum drove the length of the floor and converted a traditional three-point play with 26 seconds remaining to make the score 52-51. After a pair of missed free throws by VC, the Gusties had a chance to win it at the buzzer but a layup by Narum at the horn was too strong. The ensuing tip off the miss went in the basket, but the horn had already sounded, giving VC the win.

"Really proud of the way we battled in the second half," said Dunne. "We showed great maturity and togetherness. It takes true grit to get a last second stop to seal a win. This is a huge win for our program, as it proves we are capable of competing with anyone."

Wasyl continued his hot shooting to start the season, as he was 7-of-10 from the floor, including connecting on five of his six shots from deep. Browne was 5-of-10 on field goals and 7-of-8 from the line, adding four steals, and Grinde made 3-of-4 from the field while grabbing four boards.

Gustavus was led by the 10 points from Poppen, while Ziegler added nine points and Narum finished with eight points. Sergio Najero had a team-best seven rebounds for GAC, which won the rebounding battle 36-28. The Gusties led Vassar in points in the paint 30-14, and also in second chance points 13-7.

Vassar takes on Central College (IA) (8-2) Tuesday afternoon in Puerto Rico at 3 p.m. EST, which will be the first ever meeting between the two teams.

--VASSAR--