ROCHESTER, NY (January 28, 2017) — The Vassar College men's basketball team (5-14, 1-9 Liberty) used a 24-5 run to briefly take the lead with 29 seconds to go, but ultimately fell to Rochester Institute of Technology on the road Saturday, 86-83.
Four Brewers reached double-digits in the scoring column. Jesse Browne totaled 20 points and five assists, Mason Dyslin contributed 18 points and nine rebounds, Alex Seff added 13 points and five assists, and Kyle Kappes notched a career-high 13 points on seven shots.
The Brewers shot 48 percent from the floor, 30 percent (7-of-23) from three and 100 percent from the charity stripe, while the home team shot 55, 48 (12-of-25) and 78 percent, respectively.
AJ Horde led three Tigers in double-digit scoring with 31 points to go along with seven boards, as Troy Pierre-Louis scored 19 points and Anthony Lewis had 13.
The first few minutes were neck-and-neck, featuring one tie and seven lead changes. Horde hit a trifecta of three-pointers in between Brewer buckets, with his final trey giving the Tigers the lead for the rest of the half, 12-10, at the 14:33 mark.
That three-pointer developed into a 15-5 run, which allowed RIT to take a 24-15 advantage about midway through the half. Vassar strung together four straight points before RIT countered with eight straight, including a pair of three-pointers, to extend its lead to double figures, 32-19.
The sides exchanged baskets the rest of the half, with the Brewers outscoring the Tigers, 20-16. Horde hit a buzzer-beating three to end the period, giving RIT a 48-39 advantage going into the break.
The Tigers extended their lead to as many as 18, 77-59, in the second half before the Brewers stormed back, using a 20-2 run to knot it up at 79. Kappes sparked and capped the surge with three-pointers, while Seff fueled the run with seven points.
Horde hit his seventh triple of the night on the other end to pause the Brewer burst, but Seff and Brown laid in back-to-back baskets to give Vassar an 83-82 edge with 29 seconds to go.
The Tigers scored the final four points of the contest from the line to escape with their third straight win.
Vassar returns to Poughkeepsie, NY, hosting Union College on Friday, Feb. 3 at 8 p.m. and Skidmore College the next day at 4 p.m.
—VASSAR—