POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Vassar men's basketball team (8-2, 4-0 Liberty) won a close-fought match against Clarkson (2-8, 0-4 Liberty) on Friday afternoon in the AFC Gymnasium. The Brewers were paced by junior Zach Johnson (San Francisco, CA), who recorded his eighth double-double with a season-high 20 points to go along with ten rebounds.
Clarkson took an early 5-0 lead behind a three-pointer from Blake Gearhart and then a layup by Teddy Fravel. Vassar responded with a 5-0 run capped off by an Ethan Ellis (Silver Spring, MD) and one at 16:52. The Golden Knights took another five-point lead when Chris Hulbert drained a triple at 15:03. Junior Kevin McAuliffe (Bethesda, MD) cut the lead to 10-8 following his three-pointer off an Avni Mustafaj (Yonkers, NY) pass.
Then Mustafaj began a 10-0 Vassar run after hitting his three-pointer at 13:53. Ellis gave the Brewers a 14-12 lead, and then it kept building when sophomore Logan Scott (Schenectady, NY) put back a missed shot. Clarkson finally broke the streak at 10:55 when Jack Dalgety hit a three to make it 18-15. Senior Neville Lee (Yonkers, NY) answered right away, draining a trey to put the Brewers up 21-15.
At ten points, Vassar took its largest lead when Mustafaj connected for a pair of free throws at 9:04, but an 11-0 Clarkson run allowed the visitors to regain the lead. After a few back-and-forth baskets, two layups from Johnson and one from Lee gave Vassar a 33-31 lead with 47 seconds left in the half. Clarkson's Gearhart made the final layup to tie it 33-33 heading into the break.
Johnson scored four points in the opening two minutes of the second half, but the Golden Knights hit three-straight three-pointers to take a 44-37 lead at 16:40. Clarkson held a single-digit lead, but the Brewers slowly began to chip away. Mustafaj scored eight consecutive points, with two triples, in a one-minute span, the put Vassar up again at 56-55.
No team held more than a four-point lead for the remainder of the game, and Clarkson then tied it 69-69 with 4:35 remaining. A Zev Katz (Philadelphia, PA) triple gave the Brewers a slight cushion, but the Golden Knights tied again with under a minute left. Johnson then sealed the game with four seconds, making the inside layup for the game-winner.
Mustafaj finished the game with 13 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, while Ellis recorded 11 points and a steal. Katz scored eight points with two three-pointers and two assists. Gearhart led the team with 19 points for the Golden Knights, while Hulbert had 14. Joe Lucas scored 13 points.
Vassar continues action tomorrow against St. Lawrence at 4 p.m. in the AFC Gymnasium.