Poughkeepsie, N.Y. -- The Lehman College men's basketball attempted a late rally in the final minutes of the second half, but fell short as they lost to host Vassar College, 69-95, in the Vassar Tip-Off finals Saturday afternoon.

John Brens led three Lightning (1-2) players in double figures with 15 points to go with five rebounds and three assists. Andrew Utate added 13 points along with four assists and six boards, while Mylo Mitchell chipped in with 12 points. 

The Lightning dominated inside with 32 points in the paint and also corralled 42 rebounds to Vassar's 31 in a losing effort.

Vassar improved their record to 3-0 on the early season. They got a balanced attack on offense, getting five players in double digits. Jesse Browne scored a game-high 19 points, while Owen Murray and Mason Dyslin each scored 11 in the win.

The first half went back and forth with both teams trading the lead. Trailing 23-14, Lehman stormed back scored 13 of the next 17 points to even the score at 27 thanks to three pointers by Mitchell and Utate. Mitchell would make a layup with less than a minute to give the Lightning a 34-32 lead into intermission.

In the second, again both Lehman and Vassar traded leads, then the Lightning would go on a 10-0 run thanks to baskets by Brens, Damian Bellamy and Astrit Krasniqi to give the team a 48-39 lead with 13:48 to play. The Brewers used their range to battle back, drilling triples to rally back on a 15-2 run.

Down by one point with 5:36 remaining, Lehman went cold as the Brewers poured in nine straight points to go up by 10 points at 64-54. However, the Lightning would not go away cutting the deficit to three points with 31 seconds left. With a chance to maybe tie the game, Brens missed a shot and Vassar free throws sealed the game.

The Lightning return to the Bronx for their home opener Tuesday night at the APEX Main Gym. They will face off with nonconference Farmingdale State College at 7:00 p.m. Live stats and streaming video will be made available at LehmanAthletics.com.