Led by four players in double figures, the Continentals (18-3, 10-1) raised their winning streak to six in a row and moved one step closer to claiming the conference's regular season title. Vassar fell to
11-9 with the loss and 3-7 in Liberty League play.
Senior guard Phil Valenti (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Sutherland) led Hamilton with 21 points. Valenti helped set the tone early by scoring on a transition basket by five minutes into the contest as Hamilton
built an early 12-4 advantage.
On the defensive end, Hamilton came up with 11 steals in the first half and held Vassar without a field goal for nearly 10 minutes. The Continentals were 15-of-28 from the floor in the opening half including 5-of-10 from three-point range.
The Continentals maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half and at one-time pushed its advantage to 24, 73-49, with seven minutes remaining.
Junior guard/forward Nick Jones (Washington, DC/St. John's College) added 13 points while senior guard Staunton Peck (Winnetka, IL) finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Vassar was led by freshman guard Brian Butterworth (Hamilton, MA/Hamilton-Wenham) who pumped in a career-best 24 points. Butterworth was 8-of-13 from the field and hit six of his nine attempts from beyond
the three-point arc.
Sophomore Lawrence Avitabile (Southington, CT/Southington) added 14 points for the Brewers who will host conference rival Hobart College tomorrow at 3:00 pm in The Athletic Center. Hamilton travels to RPI for a 4:00 pm
Hamilton College vs VASSAR 2/10/06 8:00 pm at Poughkeepsie, NY At Poughkeepsie, NY HAMILTON COLLEGE 93, VASSAR 70 HAMILTON COLLEGE (18-3, 10-1) Phil Valenti 6-12 6-7 21; Nick Jones 4-11 3-4 13; Staunton Peck 2-4 7-8 11; Giorgi Chavleishvili 5-5 0-0 10; Harlee Wood 3-6 0-0 7; Tsakane Ngobeni 3-8 0-0 6; Chris Moore 0-0 6-6 6; Tim Welchons 2-7 0-0 6; Ryan Cafferty 0-0 4-6 4; Zarrette Rogers 2-4 0-0 4; Rich Kohnke 1-1 1-2 3; Kyle Dumas 1-1 0-0 2; Jeff Bernardi 0-0 0-0 0; Rob Toste 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-59 27-33 93. VASSAR (11-9, 3-7) Brian Butterworth 8-13 2-2 24; Lawrence Avitabile 3-5 8-10 14; Rob Dauster 2-5 0-0 5; Joe Ward 2-3 1-3 5; Daniel Forcella 2-8 0-0 5; William Kieffer 2-5 0-0 4; Will Byrne 2-9 0-1 4; Joe Davis 0-0 3-4 3; Tom Driscoll 0-0 2-4 2; Evan Hannay 1-3 0-0 2; Kyle Magnus 1-1 0-0 2; Lenny Holt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-52 16-24 70. Hamilton College.............. 42 51 - 93 VASSAR........................ 28 42 - 70 3-point goals-Hamilton College 8-18 (Phil Valenti 3-7; Nick Jones 2-4; Tim Welchons 2-3; Harlee Wood 1-1; Zarrette Rogers 0-1; Tsakane Ngobeni 0-1; Staunton Peck 0-1), VASSAR 8-24 (Brian Butterworth 6-9; Daniel Forcella 1-4; Rob Dauster 1-4; Will Byrne 0-5; Joe Ward 0-1; Lawrence Avitabile 0-1). Fouled out--Hamilton College-None, VASSAR-None. Rebounds-Hamilton College 36 (Staunton Peck 9), VASSAR 24 (William Kieffer 6). Assists-Hamilton College 15 (Tim Welchons 3; Tsakane Ngobeni 3), VASSAR 11 (Daniel Forcella 3). Total fouls-Hamilton College 21, VASSAR 24. A-400