Union improves to 6-7, 3-0 in league play. Vassar drops to 7-4, 1-1 in league play and hosts RPI on Tuesday. Union snaps Vassar's six game winning streak and a previously perfect 7-0 record at home. Vassar next plays home against Liberty League opponent RPI on January 16 at 8:00 pm. Union next meets Hamilton on January 19 at home.
Senior Joe Mackey (Flushing, NY/Archbishop Molloy) led five Dutchmen in double figures with 19 points. Kyle Grimm (Sherrill, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) added 18 points and 13 rebounds, Joey Lokitis (Norton, MA/Phillips Academy) went 3-for-4 from behind the arc to net 17 points off the bench, and Steve Madej (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) and Nick DiMaggio (Croton-on-Hudson/Croton-Harmon) contributed 15 and 11 points, respectively.
The Brewers also had five players in double-digits, led by sophomore Brian Butterworth’s (Hamilton, MA/Hamilton-Wenham) 20 points, 18 of them coming in the second half. Lawrence Avitabile (Southington, CT/Southington) added 17 points, 13 rebounds, and four steals. Joe Davis (East Amherst, NY/St. Joseph's Institute) scored 13 points off the bench. Junior Daniel Forcella (Falmouth, ME/Falmouth) went 4-for-6 from behind the line for 12 points and Tyson Brazell (Salt Lake City, UT/Waterford) added 11 points and seven rebounds.
Union maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the game, taking a 17-point lead into the second half. However, the Brewers fought back and managed to cut the lead to nine off a Davis jumper with 2:44 to play. Grimm answered on the other end, completing a three-point play on a baseline lay-up to give the Dutchmen a 12-point cushion. The Brewers continued to chip away at the Dutchmen lead, but with time winding down they were forced to foul. Union shot eight-for-eight from the charity stripe in the final minute, with Mackey sinking six. Forcella kept things interesting, nailing two three-pointers in the final 13 seconds to create the game’s close final score.
Vassar jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead in the first half, but the Dutchmen battled back and a Madej three-pointer gave Union its first lead, 9-7, with 11:56 to play in the half. Union would not relinquish its lead for the remainder of the game. Another Madej three-pointer with 4:18 remaining gave Union a 28-19 advantage. However, a lay-up by Brazell and a three-point play off an offensive put-back by Avitabile cut Union’s lead to four with 3:22 remaining. The Dutchmen answered by closing out the half on a 15-2 run fueled by eight points from Lokitis. Lotikis gave the Dutchmen momentum heading into the locker room, slicing through traffic for a lay up with 30 seconds remaining in the half and then sinking a buzzer-beating three-pointer from just past the half-court line.
Union shot 50 percent from three-point range, converting 12 out of 24 attempts. The Dutchmen’s shooting was particularly lethal in the first half, as they shot 8-for15 from behind the arc.