Both Vassar and RPI came into Tuesday night's contest one game behind Union for the fourth spot in the Liberty League playoffs at the end of February. The loss dealt Vassar (12-10, 5-7) a significant blow to playoff hopes while RPI (13-10, 6-6) remained in the hunt.
In a game that mirrored the January 18th meeting in Poughkeepsie, which Vassar won, 58-57, in dramatic fashion, both teams came out with a purpose. The Brewers played without sophomore forward William Kieffer, which pushed senior forward Aldis Butler into extended play (25 minutes), his longest action of the season and the most since logging 23 minutes against Amherst in the second game of the season.
RPI jumped out on top early, racing to a 10-0 lead with 17:08 to play. The Brewers closed the game to 12-10 when freshman guard Daniel Forcella (Falmouth, ME) hit both free throws. Even when RPI increased the lead to 18-10 with 12:12 to play, the Brewers fought back and thanks to Winton's hot hand (10 points during the run) tied the score at 20-20 with 6:44 to play and took a 23-22 lead with 5:23 remaining on a Tyson Brazell (Salt Lake City, UT) 3-pointer.
RPI closed out the first half on an 8-3 mini-run to lead 30-26.
For the first 15 minutes of the second half, RPI maintained the lead, but the Brewers wouldn't go away quietly. A Winton 3-pointer with 5:21 to play made the score 54-52. An enusing Winton free throw cut the lead to 54-53 and a layup by senior guard Seth Taft (Philadelphia, PA) with 4:35 to play gave Vassar its first lead of the second half, 55-54.
From that point, it was RPI that took control, pounding the boards and converting two offensive rebounds by Tom Schneider (10 points, 10 rebounds) and a huge 3-pointer by Matt Zepernick with 1:48 to play that took a 56-55 game and made it 59-55. Winton answered with a 3-pointer of his own with 1:28 to make the score 59-58, but RPI's Schneider hit one of two free throws after being fouled with a minute to play to make the score 60-58 with :59 seconds to play. In the final minute, Vassar was unable to connect on a field goal. Junior guard Will Byrne (Chelmsford, MA) missed a jumper with 30 seconds to play and Vassar was forced to fould down the strech.
RPI's Kori Massey made one of two free throws with 2 seconds remaining for the 61-58 victory.
Winton and Moore did most of the scoring for both of their respective teams. Freshman Lawrence Avitabile (Southington, CT), who had 20 points in the first meeting, managed only 4 points but had a team-high 8 rebounds. Byrne had 9 points and Taft had 6 points with 5 assists.
RPI's Moore had 26 (17 in the previous meeting) and Schneider whose five offensive rebounds -- four of which came in the second half -- finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The bigger Red Hawks held a decisive 42-31 edge in rebounding, getting 19 off the offensive glass.
Vassar will conclude its 2004-2005 season with a pair of road games at Hamilton on Friday night at 8:00 pm and Hobart on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 pm.
VASSAR vs RPI 2/15/05 8pm at Troy, NY At Troy, NY RPI 61, VASSAR 58 VASSAR (12-10, 5-7) Judson Winton 9-14 2-3 27; Will Byrne 3-12 0-0 9; Seth Taft 2-8 1-2 6; Evan Hannay 2-4 0-0 4; Lawrence Avitabile 1-4 2-2 4; Tyson Brazell 1-4 0-0 3; Aldis Butler 1-1 1-3 3; Daniel Forcella 0-2 2-3 2; Kyle Dickmann 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 8-13 58. RPI (13-10, 6-6) Paris Moore 11-18 1-1 26; Tom Schneider 3-7 4-6 10; Matt Zepernick 2-7 0-1 5; Russell Herman 2-4 0-2 4; Kori Massey 1-6 2-3 4; Neal Wesson 2-6 0-0 4; Devin Galvin 1-2 0-0 3; Paul Halas 1-2 0-0 3; Clay Hadley 1-3 0-0 2; Michael Visker 0-1 0-0 0; Joe Johnson 0-1 0-0 0; Graham Gordon 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 7-13 61. VASSAR........................ 26 32 - 58 RPI........................... 30 31 - 61 3-point goals-VASSAR 12-28 (Judson Winton 7-11; Will Byrne 3-8; Tyson Brazell 1-2; Seth Taft 1-5; Daniel Forcella 0-2), RPI 6-14 (Paris Moore 3-5; Devin Galvin 1-1; Matt Zepernick 1-1; Paul Halas 1-2; Michael Visker 0-1; Graham Gordon 0-1; Kori Massey 0-2; Tom Schneider 0-1). Fouled out--VASSAR-None, RPI-None. Rebounds-VASSAR 31 (Lawrence Avitabile 8), RPI 42 (Tom Schneider 10). Assists-VASSAR 13 (Lawrence Avitabile 5; Seth Taft 5), RPI 9 (Kori Massey 4). Total fouls-VASSAR 13, RPI 10. A-120