The game was tied at 16-16 midway through the first half before Vassar went on an 18-4 run to take a 34-20 advantage with 2:40 remaining. Lawrence Avitabile had 12 points in the spurt.
Delaware Valley rallied for the final seven points of the half to trail by seven, 34-27, at the break. The Aggies then took their first lead since early in the first half as Dominque Brown’s layup with 11:27 to go made it a 47-45 ballgame.
The teams traded the lead before the Brewers scored eight straight – six by Brian Butterworth – for a 56-49 score with 8:26 to go. The Aggies still trailed by six, 61-55, with 5:32 remaining, before they scored six straight – four by Maurice Slaughter and two by Brown – to tie the contest.
William Kieffer hit one of two free throws for Vassar, but Brown gave Delaware Valley the lead for good as he hit a running jumper with 3:13 to go to start a 9-1 Aggie run.
Brown finished with 18 points while Zack Van Dyke and Pat Lenahan added 17 and 14 respectively. Slaughter came off the bench to notch 12 points and eight rebounds while Bill Gelsomini scored 11.
Avitabile hit 10 of 11 shots from the field and was 7-for-9 from the foul line for 27 points. He also added 12 rebounds, six blocks and four steals in the losing effort. Butterworth finished with 17 points and Kieffer had a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards.