Junior Tyson Brazell's (Salt Lake City, UT/Waterford) game-high 20 points helped Vassar win its fifth straight game and improve to 6-3 as the Brewers enter the Liberty League portion of their schedule. Vassar hosts Skidmore College on Friday in its first league game. The Hawks fall to 7-5.
The back-and-forth game featured eight ties and no team held a lead larger than seven points at any point.
Following Davis' lay-up with 1:47 left in the game, Jan Cocozziello (Scotch Plains, NJ/Westfield) missed a tough shot in the key at the other end and Brewer Lawrence Avitabile (Southington, CT/Southington) hauled in the rebound. On the ensuing possession, Davis drove to the basket and drew a foul, sinking two crucial free throws to give Vassar a three-point lead. An Avitabile block on the Hawks' next possession gave Vassar the ball back with 50 seconds and Hartwick was forced to foul. Made free throws by Avitabile and Brazell gave Vassar its final margin of victory.
After taking a 34-31 lead into the locker-room courtesy of a buzzer-beating baseline three-pointer from Brazell, the Brewers did not score for the first three minutes of the second half. The Hawks managed a two-point lead in this time, but an acrobatic lay-up by Brazell ended the Vassar drought and tied the game 36-36 with 17 minutes to play. Neither team held more than a three-point lead until the final minute of the game when the Hawks were forced to foul.
Sophomore Greg Bankowski (Schenectady, NY/Guilderland) netted nine points in the opening six minutes of the first half to give Hartwick an early 17-10 lead, the largest lead held by either team. The Hawks maintained their lead until 7:15 left in the half when senior William Kieffer (Chappaqua, NY/Horace Greely) powered in for a lay up to give Vassar a 23-22 lead. A Jon Swartz (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) three-pointer with 2:53 remaining in the half gave the Brewers their largest lead at 31-25, but consecutive three-pointers by freshman Mike Agostinoni (Cairo, NY/Cairo-Durham) knotted the score 31-31 with ten seconds remaining in the half, a tie Brazell's baseline three-pointer quickly broke.
Bankowski and Raymond Doyley (Yonkers, NY/Yonkers HS) led the Hawks with 11 points apiece, and Cory Carson chipped in with ten.
Both teams managed to shut down their opponent's top scorers. The Vassar defense held Cocozziello, Hartwick's leading scorer with 19.2 points per game in 11 games, to five points on 1-for-15 shooting; however, Cocozziello dished out a game-high seven assists. The Hawks held Avitabile, Vassar's leading scorer, to six points, but the junior forward managed to haul in a game-high nine rebounds.
Sophomore Brian Butterworth (Hamilton, MA/Hamilton-Wenham) netted 15 points for the Brewers on 5-for-9 shooting from behind the arc. Davis came off the bench to contribute 12 points.
Hartwick College vs VASSAR 1/09/07 8:00 pm at Poughkeepsie, NY At Poughkeepsie, NY VASSAR 65, HARTWICK COLLEGE 63 HARTWICK COLLEGE (7-5) Greg Bankowski 5-8 1-1 11; Raymond Doyley 5-7 0-0 11; Cory Carson 4-5 1-1 10; Josh MacKenzie 4-6 0-0 8; Albe Hulick 2-7 2-3 7; Mike Agostinoni 2-4 0-0 6; Matt Simoneschi 2-4 1-2 5; Jan Cocozziello 1-15 3-5 5; Kyle Phillips 0-0 0-0 0; Pat Dunnigan 0-1 0-0 0; Mike Tracy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-57 8-12 63. VASSAR (6-3) Tyson Brazell 6-11 7-7 20; Brian Butterworth 5-11 0-0 15; Joe Davis 4-9 4-8 12; Lawrence Avitabile 1-1 4-7 6; Jon Swartz 2-5 0-2 6; William Kieffer 2-7 0-0 4; Evan Hannay 1-2 0-0 2; Tom Driscoll 0-0 0-0 0; Andy McKenzie 0-0 0-0 0; Matt Nunn 0-1 0-0 0; Kyle Magnus 0-0 0-0 0; Daniel Forcella 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-48 15-24 65. Hartwick College.............. 31 28 - 59 VASSAR........................ 34 31 - 65 3-point goals--Hartwick College 5-13 (Mike Agostinoni 2-2; Albe Hulick 1-2; Cory Carson 1-1; Raymond Doyley 1-1; Jan Cocozziello 0-4; Matt Simoneschi 0-1; Josh MacKenzie 0-2), VASSAR 8-17 (Brian Butterworth 5-9; Jon Swartz 2-4; Tyson Brazell 1-2; Daniel Forcella 0-1; Joe Davis 0-1). Fouled out--Hartwick College-Josh MacKenzie, VASSAR-None. Rebounds--Hartwick College 35 (Raymond Doyley 7), VASSAR 30 (Lawrence Avitabile 9). Assists--Hartwick College 14 (Jan Cocozziello 7), VASSAR 10 (Daniel Forcella 3). Total fouls--Hartwick College 22, VASSAR 13. Technical fouls--Hartwick College-None, VASSAR-None. A-100