The victory helped the Brewers finish the regular season with a 12-12 record and a 4-10 mark in the Liberty League. Vassar started quickly hitting four its first five shots from the field to build a 9-0 lead in the opening minutes. After Skidmore closed the gap to 9-5, the Brewers went on an 11-2 run over the next five minutes to move in front 20-7 at the nine-minute mark. Avitable had 16 of his game-high 23 points in an opening half where Vassar shot 57 percent (20-of-35) from the field.
Freshman guard Brian Butterworth (Hamilton, MA/Hamilton-Wenham) contributed 13 points off the bench. Butterworth's three-pointer with 2:29 remaining in the first half helped Vassar open up a 43-20 lead. The Brewers took a 46-26 lead into the break and coasted through the second half.
Playing in his final collegiate game, senior guard Will Byrne (Chelmsford, MA/Concord Academy) scored nine points and was 3-of-6 from beyond the three-point stripe. Junior forward William Kieffer (Chappaqua, NY/Horace Greely) also finished with nine points as 10 different players found the scoring column for the Brewers.
Skidmore (1-13, 4-20) was led by senior guard Reed Juckett (Wellesley, MA/Wellesley) who finished with 12 points. Senior guard Greg Gallagher (North Haven, CT/North Haven) added 10 points and six rebounds.
Skidmore College vs VASSAR 2/18/06 4:00 pm at Poughkeepsie, NY At Poughkeepsie, NY VASSAR 78, SKIDMORE COLLEGE 55 SKIDMORE COLLEGE (4-20, 1-13) Reed Juckett 4-10 4-5 12; Greg Gallagher 2-9 6-6 10; J.Haviland-Markowitz 2-9 3-5 8; Dave Phelps 3-6 2-2 8; Rich Toni 2-3 1-2 5; Sam Cohen-DeVries 2-3 0-0 5; Brian Perrier 1-1 0-0 3; Matt Belsito 1-4 0-0 3; Ian Connole 0-1 1-2 1; Jake Shechtman 0-3 0-0 0; Ryan Fischer-Werner 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-50 17-22 55. VASSAR (12-12, 4-10) Lawrence Avitabile 10-15 3-3 23; Brian Butterworth 5-7 0-0 13; William Kieffer 4-10 1-2 9; Will Byrne 3-7 0-0 9; Tyson Brazell 3-5 0-0 6; Joe Ward 2-4 0-0 5; Kyle Magnus 1-1 2-4 4; Tom Driscoll 2-3 0-0 4; Joe Davis 1-4 1-2 3; Evan Hannay 1-1 0-0 2; Rob Dauster 0-4 0-0 0; Lenny Holt 0-0 0-0 0; Daniel Forcella 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 32-63 7-11 78. Skidmore College.............. 26 29 - 55 VASSAR........................ 46 32 - 78 3-point goals-Skidmore College 4-20 (Sam Cohen-DeVries 1-1; J.Haviland-Markowitz 1-4; Matt Belsito 1-3; Brian Perrier 1-1; Ian Connole 0-1; Jake Shechtman 0-2; Rich Toni 0-1; Dave Phelps 0-2; Greg Gallagher 0-2; Reed Juckett 0-3), VASSAR 7-20 (Brian Butterworth 3-4; Will Byrne 3-6; Joe Ward 1-1; Joe Davis 0-2; Rob Dauster 0-4; Daniel Forcella 0-2; Tyson Brazell 0-1). Fouled out--Skidmore College-None, VASSAR-None. Rebounds-Skidmore College 27 (Greg Gallagher 6), VASSAR 40 (Lawrence Avitabile 10). Assists-Skidmore College 8 (J.Haviland-Markowitz 2; Reed Juckett 2), VASSAR 24 (Tyson Brazell 8). Total fouls-Skidmore College 13, VASSAR 22. A-250