SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Down by 16 points five minutes into the game, the Union College men's basketball team outscored Vassar College by 30 points the rest of the way as the Dutchmen handed the Brewers their first Liberty League loss of the year with an impressive 79-65 victory on Tuesday night at Viniar Athletic Center.
 
Seniors Brian Noone and Mike Manley led the charge for Union (6-4, 3-1 Liberty League), combining for 46 points. Noone hit 9-of-19 shots to finish with a career- and game-high 26 points to go with five boards, four assists and three steals. Manley hit 4-of-8 shots from beyond the arc to finish with 20 points, four assists and three rebounds.
 
Senior Temi George chipped in 11 points and a team-high six rebounds, while junior Connor Cepiel gave Union a huge spark off the bench, hitting 5-of-6 shots to finish with a career-high 11 points, three rebounds and two assists in a career-best 31 minutes of action.
 
Vassar (9-3, 5-1 Liberty League) stormed out of the gates on Tuesday looking very much like one of the conference's top teams, hitting seven of its first eight shots (including all three treys) in jumping out to an 18-2 lead 5:04 into the contest.
 
The Brewers continued to shoot well, but the Dutchmen started to make some baskets and slowly ease themselves back into the contest. A 10-4 run got the home team within 11 (23-12) at the midway point of the half, but the visitors still led 31-19 with 6:17 remaining as Vassar remained above 72 percent shooting (13-of-18) from the field.
 
Union then closed the half with a nearly identical run to Vassar's game-starting stint, scoring 18 of the final 22 points over the last 4:05 to amazingly take a 41-38 lead into halftime. Cepiel had a triple and a layup on back-to-back possessions to cut the deficit to six, followed by five straight points from Manley and a Noone three-point play that gave Union its first lead of the night.
 
Vassar finished the first half shooting 64.0 percent (16 of 25) from the field, but still found itself behind thanks to Union's 51.5 percent (17-of-33) shooting. The Dutchmen hit 10 of their final 13 shots in the period in mounting their comeback.
 
The home team extended its lead to seven early in the second stanza, taking a 51-44 lead in junior Mike Caporale's layup with 13:32 left. The visitors battled back to get within four after two Kevin McAuliffe free throws, but Union used a quick 8-0 run capped by a Cepiel layup to take its first double-digit lead of the night at 67-55 with 5:20 on the clock. The Dutchmen then sealed the game from the charity stripe, sinking 7-of-9 attempts over the final 3:11 to earn the victory.
 
Union finished the game shooting 48.3 percent (29 of 60) from the field and 44.4 percent (8-of-18) from beyond the arc on the evening, while Vassar cooled off considerably in the second half (9-of-30) to finish at 45.5 percent (25 of 55) for the night.
 
The Dutchmen will head onto the road for the next three weeks, with six straight road conference contests coming before a six-game homestand. Union returns to action on Friday at Rochester Institute of Technology beginning at 7:30 p.m.