The Brewers improve to 12-4, 5-1 in league play. The five Liberty League wins ties Vassar's highest win total in the league. The Brewers sit atop the Liberty League with Union, but could take sole possession of first place pending the outcome of Union's game versus Clarkson on Friday. Vassar hosts the defending Liberty League champion Hamilton on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Hobart drops to 6-11, 2-4 in the Liberty League and travels to RPI on Saturday.
Tyson Brazell (Salt Lake City, UT/Waterford) led the Brewers with a game-high 16 points while Lawrence Avitabile (Southington, CT/Southington) recorded his 21st career double-double with 14 points and 16 rebounds, a career high. The junior forward also tied a career high with six blocks.
Vassar controlled the boards, out-rebounding Hobart 48-27. The Brewers were particularly aggressive on the offensive glass, pulling down 22 offensive rebounds with Avitabile grabbing seven.
The Brewers led for most of the first half though the Statesmen managed to keep the deficit to less than ten for all but the final 1:38 when Matt Nunn (Lower Gwynedd, PA/Abington Friends) converted a lay-up off an inbounds play to give Vassar a 30-20 lead. Following a William Kieffer (Chappaqua, NY/Horace Greely) steal, Brazell scored on a lay-up with 24 seconds remaining in the half to give the Brewers their largest lead, at 12 points. A foul under the basket with four seconds left sent Statesman John Grazioli (Melville, NY/St. Anthonys) to the line, where he sank both free throws for a 32-22 halftime score. Avitabile controlled the paint in the first half, with 11 points and eight rebounds.
In the second half, an old fashioned three-point play by Grazioli cut the Brewer lead to seven with 17:23 remaining in the game, but it was as close as the Statesmen would come. Vassar steadily extended its lead and an Avitabile free throw with 6:42 remaining gave the Brewers their largest advantage, at 17 points.
Mike Manning (Mastic, NY/Center Moriches) paced Hobart with 11 points and six rebounds. The senior guard came into the game needing ten points to record his 1,000th point. Manning reached the milestone with 5:48 remaining in the game, grabbing a steal and then elevating over a Vassar defender to convert a tough fast break lay-up. Manning is the 20th Hobart player to score over 1,000 career points. Kevin Riley (Brooklyn, NY/Xavier) and Aasim Cunningham (Montclair, NJ/Montclair Kimberley Academy) chipped in with ten points apiece.