The Brewers, now 11-7, 3-5 in the Liberty League, had lost three previous Liberty League overtime games to Hobart, RPI and Union. VC's second win over Clarkson this season dropped the Golden Knights to 4-15 overall and 1-7.
Vassar meets St. Lawrence, who was upset by RPI 63-59 Friday night, on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 pm.
In the overtime, neither team was able to muster much offensively until VC junior center William Kieffer (Chappaqua, NY/Horace Greely) converted a lay up with 50 seconds remaining to give the Brewers a three-point lead. Clarkson's EJ Harrison was fouled on a shot attempt and buried both free throws with 32.6 seconds to bring the Vassar advantage back to one point. However, the Brewers were able to hit two free throws, one each by Brazell and Kieffer, in their next four attempts while the Knights were unable to produce any points.
The Brewers raced out to a small advantage in the first half and held on to a five-point lead with 12:40 remaining, 21-16. The Golden Knights went on a 13-3 run over the next seven and a half minutes to take a 10-point lead, 29-24, with 5:19 left in the half. After the Brewers cut the advantage to one points in the final two minutes, Clarkson ended with a 5-0 run, including a 3-point play by EJ Harrison (Troy, NY) with just 17 seconds left after a runner in the lane was followed by a made free throw.
Sophomore guard Tyson Brazell (Salt Lake City, UT/Waterford School) led all scorers with 12 points in the first half, shooting 3-for-6 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Sophomore forward Lawrence Avitabile (Southington, CT/Southington) also added seven points, and three rebounds for Vassar. Russ Vitallo (Dracut, MA) scored a team-high nine points and contributed six rebounds for Clarkson while Harrison added eight points.
The Golden Knights enjoyed an 11-point advantage with 11:17 left in the game, but the Brewers chipped away at the lead and finally tied the game late in the second half. The tail end of the half saw numerous players disqualified with five fouls as the two teams combined for a season-high 56 fouls (28 for each team) as both teams scored the majority of their points from the free throw line.
Four players finished in double figures for Vassar, led by Brazell with 17 points on 7-for-8 from the line and eight rebounds. Kieffer scored 15 points and Avitabile tallied 12 points before fouling out. Senior Will Byrne (Chelmsford, MA/Concord Academy) scored 10 points.
For Clarkson, Vitallo finished with game-highs of 17 points, 16 rebounds and 4 blocks Harrison added 14 points and seven rebounds.
Vassar College vs Clarkson University 2/3/2006 8:00 pm at Potsdam, NY Alumni Gymnasium At Potsdam, NY Alumni Gymnasium VASSAR COLLEGE 68, CLARKSON UNIVERSITY 65 VASSAR COLLEGE (11-7, 3-5 LL) Tyson Brazell 4-9 7-8 17; William Kieffer 6-11 3-7 15; Lawrence Avitabile 4-6 4-6 12; Will Byrne 2-7 4-4 10; Joe Davis 2-5 2-2 6; Evan Hannay 1-3 1-2 3; Daniel Forcella 0-3 2-4 2; Lenny Holt 0-1 2-4 2; Kyle Magnus 0-1 1-3 1; Joe Ward 0-0 0-0 0; Rob Dauster 0-2 0-0 0; Tom Driscoll 0-0 0-0 0; Brian Butterworth 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 26-40 68. CLARKSON UNIVERSITY (4-15, 1-7 LL) Russ Vitallo 6-18 5-7 17; EJ Harrison 5-9 3-5 14; Ryan Smith 1-6 7-9 9; Erick Vigansky 3-6 0-0 8; John Chiero 2-4 2-2 6; Brian Salanger 2-10 2-5 6; Brandon Rigg-Reives 1-6 0-0 3; Kevin Bolduc 0-0 2-4 2. Totals 20-59 21-32 65. Vassar College................ 31 29 8 - 68 Clarkson University........... 37 23 5 - 65 3-point goals-Vassar College 4-13 (Tyson Brazell 2-4; Will Byrne 2-4; Joe Davis 0-1; Daniel Forcella 0-2; Rob Dauster 0-2), Clarkson University 4-20 (Erick Vigansky 2-4; EJ Harrison 1-3; Brandon Rigg-Reives 1-5; Brian Salanger 0-7; Russ Vitallo 0-1). Fouled out--Vassar College-Lawrence Avitabile; Evan Hannay, Clarkson University-John Chiero; Erick Vigansky; Ryan Smith. Rebounds-Vassar College 35 (Tyson Brazell 8), Clarkson University 47 (Russ Vitallo 16). Assists-Vassar College 12 (Daniel Forcella 5), Clarkson University 12 (Brian Salanger 5). Total fouls-Vassar College 28, Clarkson University 28. A-232