The loss drops Vassar to 12-5, 5-2 in the Liberty League. The Brewers play their final home games next weekend, facing Clarkson on Friday and St. Lawrence on Saturday. With the win, Hamilton sports an identical record to the Brewers and joins a four-way tie for first place in the league featuring Vassar, St. Lawrence and Union.
Senior Tsakani Ngobeni (Soweto, South Africa/St. Anne�s-Belfield School [VA]) led the Continentals with a dominating 23-point, 14-rebound performance, while Harlee Wood (Clinton, MD/Bishop McNamara) chipped in with 18 points.
A game featuring Hamilton, the defending champion of the Liberty League and Vassar, tied for first place in the league coming into the game, promised excitement and both teams did not disappoint.
The Brewers held a six-point lead entering the second half and held on to their lead for 12 minutes. A jumper by Tyson Brazell (Salt Lake City, UT/Waterford) at the 15:32 mark gave Vassar a 51-41 lead, but a 12-4 Hamilton run sparked by four points apiece from Ngobeni and Wood brought the Continentals to within a bucket. Two lay-ups by Lawrence Avitabile (Southington, CT/Southington) and a three-pointer from Daniel Forcella (Falmouth, ME/Falmouth) extended Vassar's lead back to seven with 9:57 to play.
However, as they had all game the Continentals responded and a Ngobeni put-back tied the game at 60 with 8:05 remaining. Avitabile broke the tie, taking the ball coast to coast and bouncing home an acrobatic lay-up. This would be the Brewer�s final lead of the game, however, as a Ngobeni lay-up and free throw with 6:08 to play gave Hamilton a lead it refused to relinquish. The Continentals steadily pulled away in the final minutes of the game, keyed by Dave Alston (Stillwater, NY/Stillwater) who scored seven of his 13 points in the final four minutes.
Vassar held the lead for the majority of the first half, but never led by more than six. After trailing 17-11, Hamilton rattled off eight unanswered points to take a 19-17 lead with 8:43 remaining. However, seven straight points by Brazell helped the Brewers regain a 24-19 lead with 7:19 left in the half. The Continentals came as close as two points following a lay-up by Tim Shaw (Elmhurst, IL/Fenwick) at the 4:11 mark, but six points by Joe Davis (East Amherst, NY/St. Joseph's Institute) in the final four minutes of the half helped the Brewers enter the locker room with a 40-34 lead. Davis provided a spark off the bench for the Brewers, netting 12 points on 6-8 shooting in the first 20 minutes.
Brazell led the Brewers with 18 points, followed by Davis with 15. Forcella scored 11 points on 3-for-6 shooting from behind the arc. The Continentals held the league�s third-place scorer, Avitabile, to eight points, though the junior forward dished off a game-high seven assists.
The Continentals forced 20 Brewer turnovers with Ngobeni and Joe Manns (Fieldale, VA/Carlisle School) nabbing three steals apiece. Hamilton scored 26 points off turnovers.