With the victory St. Lawrence improves to 5-8, 3-0, while Vassar drops to 7-6, 0-4. Both teams continue Liberty League play Saturday afternoon at 4:00 pm with Vassar hosting Clarkson and St. Lawrence traveling to RPI.
On the strength of 56 percent shooting in the first half, the Saints built a comfortable 38-28 halftime lead, but the Brewers, playing without sophomore forward Lawrence Avitabile (Southington, CT/Southington), refused to fold.
Vassar was able to close the St. Lawrence margin to four with 13:40 to play in the second half on a driving layup by sophomore guard Tyson Brazell (Salt Lake City/Waterford School). The Saints remained resilient, however, and went on a 14-8 run to build the margin back to 58-48 on a 3-pointer by junior guard Matt Blue (Bellingham, MA/Bellingham) with 7:23 to play. A 3-pointer from St. Lawrence senior guard Pat Delmonico (Skaneateles, NY/Christian Brothers) with 6:01 to play pushed the lead to 17 points at 65-48 and put the Brewers in another deep hole.
The Brewers went without a basket for the next three minutes and the Saints capitalized to win their game in their last four tries.
The Saints came out blazing in the first half, shooting 56 percent from the field in building a 38-28 halftime margin. St. Lawrence scored 12 of the games first 16 points to build a 12-4 lead at the 14:31 mark. With the score at 14-9, the Saints went on a 17-3 run, for a commanding 31-14 lead with 4:42 to play. A 3-pointer by Delmonico – the Saints' only trifecta of the first half – with 2:25 to play propelled St. Lawrence to its biggest margin, 38-16, before the Brewers mounted a strong push in the final two minutes. Vassar scored the final 12 points, five from freshman Brian Butterworth (Hamilton, NY/Hamilton-Wenham) of the half to trail by 10 points.
St. Lawerence Univ. vs VASSAR 1/20/06 8:00 pm at Poughkeepsie, NY At Poughkeepsie, NY ST. LAWERENCE UNIV. 76, VASSAR 60 ST. LAWERENCE UNIV. (4-9, 3-0) Matt Blue 3-5 8-9 15; Bela Vonnak 5-6 3-5 13; Pat Delmonico 4-10 2-3 12; Jimmy White 4-9 3-6 11; Tyler Shaver 4-12 2-2 11; Mike Finn 1-1 2-2 4; Richard Williams 2-2 0-0 4; Tom Wopperer 2-9 0-0 4; Ben Augliano 1-3 0-0 2; Sebastian Kurtz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-57 20-27 76. VASSAR (7-6, 0-4) William Kieffer 6-13 3-5 15; Brian Butterworth 5-8 2-2 14; Joe Davis 3-6 0-0 6; Rob Dauster 2-6 0-1 6; Tyson Brazell 2-7 2-3 6; Kyle Magnus 1-1 2-2 4; Will Byrne 1-7 0-0 3; Daniel Forcella 1-3 0-0 2; Lawrence Avitabile 1-3 0-0 2; Evan Hannay 0-2 2-2 2; Joe Ward 0-0 0-0 0; Lenny Holt 0-0 0-0 0; Tom Driscoll 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-56 11-15 60. St. Lawerence Univ............ 38 38 - 76 VASSAR........................ 28 32 - 60 3-point goals-St. Lawerence Univ. 4-15 (Pat Delmonico 2-5; Tyler Shaver 1-5; Matt Blue 1-2; Tom Wopperer 0-2; Jimmy White 0-1), VASSAR 5-16 (Brian Butterworth 2-3; Rob Dauster 2-6; Will Byrne 1-6; Tyson Brazell 0-1). Fouled out--St. Lawerence Univ.-None, VASSAR-Brian Butterworth. Rebounds-St. Lawrence Univ. 37 (Jimmy White 7), VASSAR 34 (Brian Butterworth 7). Assists-St. Lawerence Univ. 16 (Jimmy White 7), VASSAR 7 (Brian Butterworth 2). Total fouls-St. Lawerence Univ. 19, VASSAR 25. A-225