The win stopped a five-game Vassar skid and now puts the Brewers at 8-6 overall and 1-4 in conference play. Clarkson fell to 4-11, 1-3.
Vassar took control midway through the first half on the strength of some hot perimeter shooting. With the game tied at 14 at the 11-minute mark, senior guard Will Byrne (Chelmsford, MA/Concord Academy) sank a three-pointer to put the Brewers ahead 17-14.
Freshman guard Brian Butterworth (Hamilton, MA/Hamilton-Wenham) later added a three-point field goal to Vassar in front 22-14 with 7:50 remaining. Junior guard Rob Dauster (North Haven, CT/North Haven) closed out the half with two consecutive three's to key the Brewers to a 37-21 lead at the intermission.
Vassar was 6-of-14 from beyond the three-point stripe in the opening half while Clarkson mustered just nine first half field goals and committed 14 turnovers.
The Brewers maintained a double-digit second half lead until the 11:45 mark when senior forward Russ Vitallo (Dracut, MA/Dracut) sank a pair of free throws to pull the Golden Knights (4-11, 0-4) within eight, 44-36.
From there, Vassar received contributions from its bench players to build the lead back to double figures. Sophomore forward Kyle Magnus (South Burlington, VT) hit a driving lay up with 7:05 to play give Vassar a 48-36 lead.
Sophomore forward Lawrence Avitabile (Southington, CT/Southington), who came off the bench this afternoon, scored four of his six points in the final five minutes to extend the Vassar lead to 52-39 with 4:30 to play.
Ten different Brewers landed in the scoring column and Vassar received 33 of its 58 points from its bench. Junior forward William Kieffer (Chappaqua, NY/Horace Greely) led the way with a game-best 11 points. Avitabile grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds in addition to his six points on 3-of-3 shooting. Freshman guard Lenny Holt (Watertown, MA/Watertown) was the leading scorer off the bench with seven points.
Freshman forward Ryan Smith (Wilson, NY/Wilson) led Clarkson with 10 points in 16 minutes of action.
Vassar returns to action on Tuesday, January 24 with a 7:00 pm home game against New York City Tech.
CU vs VASSAR 1/21/06 4:00 pm at Poughkeepsie, NY At Poughkeepsie, NY VASSAR 58, CU 45 CU (4-11, 1-3) Ryan Smith 5-8 0-0 10; John Chiero 3-4 2-4 8; EJ Harrison 3-8 1-5 8; Russ Vitallo 2-6 3-5 7; Ben Dudek 2-6 0-0 5; Will Zinsmeister 2-3 0-0 5; Erick Vigansky 1-4 0-0 2; Erik Storsberg 0-0 0-0 0; Matt Marra 0-2 0-0 0; Brandon Rigg-Reives 0-2 0-0 0; Brian Salanger 0-5 0-0 0; Kevin Bolduc 0-4 0-0 0; Jon Youngmann 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-53 6-14 45. VASSAR (8-6, 1-4) William Kieffer 3-5 5-9 11; Lenny Holt 1-1 5-7 7; Rob Dauster 2-4 0-0 6; Lawrence Avitabile 3-3 0-1 6; Will Byrne 2-8 0-0 6; Tom Driscoll 1-4 4-6 6; Brian Butterworth 2-8 0-0 5; Joe Davis 2-3 0-0 5; Daniel Forcella 1-4 1-2 4; Kyle Magnus 1-1 0-0 2; Evan Hannay 0-1 0-0 0; Tyson Brazell 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-44 15-25 58. CU............................ 21 24 - 45 VASSAR........................ 37 21 - 58 3-point goals-CU 3-16 (Ben Dudek 1-4; Will Zinsmeister 1-2; EJ Harrison 1-1; Erick Vigansky 0-1; Matt Marra 0-2; Brandon Rigg-Reives 0-2; Brian Salanger 0-4), VASSAR 7-21 (Will Byrne 2-5; Rob Dauster 2-4; Brian Butterworth 1-6; Daniel Forcella 1-4; Joe Davis 1-1; Tyson Brazell 0-1). Fouled out--CU-Erick Vigansky, VASSAR-None. Rebounds-CU 33 (Erick Vigansky 6), VASSAR 38 (Lawrence Avitabile 11). Assists-CU 9 (EJ Harrison 4), VASSAR 15 (William Kieffer 3; Lawrence Avitabile 3; Lenny Holt 3). Total fouls-CU 24, VASSAR 20. A-200