Annandale, N.Y. - Despite a second half rally that brought the Blue Knights to within three points, Vassar College defeated Mount Saint Mary College, 73-61, to win their fourth consecutive Hudson Valley Shootout title Wednesday night. The Brewers moved to 5-1 while the Blue Knights dropped to 2-2 on the year.
Sophomore Chris Harrison (Baldwin, N.Y.) carried the Mount for much of the night, finishing the game with a season-high 19 points to go along with 5 rebounds. Senior Tyson Brazell (Salt Lake City, Utah) was nearly unstoppable for the Brewers, scoring 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting. For his efforts, Brazell was named the tournament's most valuable player.
Vassar came out of the gates on fire, scoring 41 first half points against a MSMC defense that had only given up an average of 24 first half points in three previous games. The Brewers shot 56.7 percent from the field and nailed five triples in the opening stanza and carried a 41-28 lead into the locker room. The Blue Knights connected at only a 35.7 percent rate in the first.
Mount Saint Mary opened the second on a 10-4 run that brought the Blue Knights to within five with fourteen minutes to play. Harrison started the run with a jumper from inside the paint and then capped the run with a lay-up in transition.
After the Brewers pushed the lead back to ten, the Blue Knights rallied again and a three-pointer from junior Alex Kuchar (Rutherford, N.J.) cut the lead to four with 10:24 remaining. Following a Vassar free throw and a fast break lay-up from Brazell, freshman Matt Weinberger (Wahsingtonville, N.Y.) hit a nice pull-up jumper from fifteen feet to cut the lead to 57-52. Vassar missed a jumper at the other end and then Weinberger hit senior Chuck Morris (Greenwich, N.Y.) on the break for a lay-up that cut the gap to three. The Blue Knights came up with a third consecutive stop at the defensive end and Jason Cardez (Ridgewood, N.Y.) had a chance to tie the game with a three-pointer. The trey was right on line but hit the back of the rim, allowing Vassar to snag the rebound and score at the other end. The Brewers scored ten of the next thirteen points to lead by ten with just over four minutes to play.
Harrison fouled out on a charge call that could have easily gone the other way with four minutes remaining, and from there, Vassar never allowed the Blue Knights back within ten. Senior Lawrence Avitabile (Southington, Conn.) hit two free throws and made a jumper down the stretch to close out the game.
Avitabile finished with 13 points, 9 rebounds, and an appearance on the all-tournament team. For the Mount, Kuchar and Weinberger were honored with all-tournament recognition.
Mount Saint Mary returns home for their Skyline Conference opener this weekend. The Blue Knights will take on Old Westbury, beginning at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 1 in the Kaplan Center. Vassar hosts the New York City College of Technology, tipping off at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.
