The victory was the fourth in a row for Vassar, which improved to 7-1. It's the best eight-game start in the history of the men?s basketball program.
Senior guard Will Byrne (Chelmsford, MA/Concord Academy) added a season-best 15 points; including three, 3-point field goals. Junior forward William Kieffer (Chappaqua, NY/Horace Greely) added 10 points for the Brewers, who earned their first victory since December 6, a 65-55 win against Hartwick.
Vassar used an 11-0 surge late in the second half to turn a 53-52 deficit with 6:30 to play into a 63-53 lead with at the 1:43 mark.
Avitabile rebounded his own missed shot and followed with a basket to put Vassar in front 54-53 with 5:28 to play. Following a double foul on SUNY IT, in which the Brewers converted three of four free throws, Byrne drained a three-pointer with 2:45 on the clock to give Vassar a 60-53 lead.
After another defensive stop by Vassar, freshman guard Brian Butterworth (Hamilton, MA/Hamilton-Wenham) added a lay up on the ensuing possession to give Vassar a nine-point lead, 62-53 with 2:23 to play.
SUNY IT (4-4) took a 53-50 lead a three-pointer by junior guard Chris Reaves (Syracuse, NY/Herkimer CC) at the eight minutes remaining mark. It would be last field goal for the Wildcats until 1:40 mark when SUNY IT faced a seven-point deficit.
SUNY IT received 10 points a piece from Reaves, junior guard Chris Laboard (Bronx, NY/MVCC) and junior forward Antoine Gilkes (Bronx, NY/MVCC).
Vassar will travel to Delaware to play Delaware Valley on Monday (Jan. 9) at 8:00 p.m.
SUNYIT vs VASSAR 1/7/06 3:00 pm at Poughkeepsie, NY At Poughkeepsie, NY VASSAR 67, SUNYIT 60 SUNYIT (4-4) LABOARD, Chris 3-7 3-5 10; REAVES, Chris 4-8 1-3 10; GILKES, Antoine 5-9 0-1 10; WHALEN, Pat 4-7 0-0 8; BIEN-AIME, Chantal 2-9 0-0 5; PLANTE, Chris 2-6 0-0 5; EDWARDS, Ajani 2-5 0-0 4; ADAMS, J.P. 2-7 0-0 4; BROWN, Chris 2-2 0-0 4; Elvis Belone 0-1 0-0 0; MILLIAN, Hanzley 0-0 0-0 0; ABUAWAD, Maher 0-0 0-0 0; MILLER, Lol-Kirk 0-0 0-0 0; KASERMAN, Josh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-61 4-9 60. VASSAR (7-1) Lawrence Avitabile 11-19 4-8 27; Will Byrne 6-12 0-0 15; William Kieffer 3-9 3-4 10; Brian Butterworth 1-4 4-7 6; Joe Davis 1-5 2-4 4; Lenny Holt 1-6 0-0 3; Evan Hannay 1-5 0-0 2; Joe Ward 0-1 0-0 0; Daniel Forcella 0-1 0-0 0; Rob Dauster 0-2 0-0 0; Tom Driscoll 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-64 13-23 67. SUNYIT........................ 28 32 - 60 VASSAR........................ 29 38 - 67 3-point goals-SUNYIT 4-22 (BIEN-AIME, Chantal 1-7; REAVES, Chris 1-2; LABOARD, Chris 1-4; PLANTE, Chris 1-4; ADAMS, J.P. 0-2; EDWARDS, Ajani 0-1; WHALEN, Pat 0-2), VASSAR 6-17 (Will Byrne 3-6; Lawrence Avitabile 1-1; Lenny Holt 1-3; William Kieffer 1-2; Daniel Forcella 0-1; Rob Dauster 0-1; Brian Butterworth 0-3). Fouled out--SUNYIT-None, VASSAR-None. Rebounds-SUNYIT 43 (BROWN, Chris 8), VASSAR 39 (Lawrence Avitabile 14). Assists-SUNYIT 16 (LABOARD, Chris 6; REAVES, Chris 6), VASSAR 15 (Lenny Holt 4). Total fouls-SUNYIT 17, VASSAR 15. A-100 Vassar improves to 7-1 on the season, best mark in school history