GENEVA, NY (January 27, 2017) — It was a tale of two halves for the Vassar College men's basketball team (5-13, 1-8 Liberty), as the Brewers fell to the Statesmen of Hobart College (10-8, 5-4 Liberty) on the road Friday, 92-70.
The Brewers led for most of the first half before the Statesmen separated themselves in the second.
Both teams shot roughly the same percent from the floor, but the difference came down to the three-ball. Vassar shot 45 percent from the floor and 32 percent (7-of-22) from distance, while the home team shot 49 and 52 percent (15-of-29), respectively.
Jesse Browne led the Brewers with 24 points, two shy of his season-high, while Alex Seffadded 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Mattie Mrlik finished with six points and a game-high seven boards, as the Brewers out rebounded the Statesmen, 33-23.
Chris Gallivan and Mason Dyslin sparked the Brewer offense, scoring the first two field goals of the game — a triple and a jumper — to take an early 5-1 advantage. The Statesmen caught on, scoring eight of the next nine points for a brief 9-6 lead.
The Brewers retaliated with eight straight points, including back-to-back threes by Browne and Mickey Adams, to reclaim their lead, 14-9.
The Statesmen pulled as close as one, 18-17, before the Brewers strung together nine straight points, capped by Browne's hoop-and-harm, 26-17. Vassar sustained its lead the rest of the half, carrying a 34-30 edge into the locker rooms.
While Seff scored the first eight points for the Brewers to start the second half, Tucker Lescoe and Pete Drescher scored the first nine points on a trifecta of three-pointers for the Statesmen to pull within one, 40-39.
Drescher's three-pointer developed into a 20-3 run, as Hobart took a 56-43 advantage about midway through the half. The Statesmen sustained their double-digit lead the rest of the way, ultimately outscoring the Brewers 62-36 in the second half.
Colin Dougherty led four Statesmen in double-digit scoring with 21 points, while Lescoe, Matt Walsh and Jamal Lucas added 16 points apiece.
Vassar remains on the road, taking on Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 4 p.m.
—VASSAR—