Brewers avenge its two regular season losses against RPI to win 57-53 in the conference title game
The Vassar College Men's Basketball team earned its second Liberty League Championship crown on Sunday afternoon as the Brewers toppled top-seed RPI 57-53 at ECAV Arena. Junior Shea Fitzgerald was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Performer after finishing the three games averaging 20 points per game.
Vassar has now a program-record 20 wins this season and will head to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history. Vassar will find out its location and opponent for the 2026 NCAA Tournament tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. on NCAA.com.

First Half
Both teams traded buckets in the opening four minutes as RPI pulled ahead by three at the 15:02 mark on a Billy Feeks (5'10''-G) layup.
Three consecutive points from sophomore Parker Neuenhaus (6'9''-F) evened the scoring at 13 before a three from Fitzgerald put the Brewers ahead 16-15 with 12:41 remaining.
Blake Smith's free throws gave RPI a 19-16 advantage before a 6-0 run, led by makes from junior Kreekor Karageuzian (6'2''-G), junior Sebastian Medina (6'4''-F) and senior Nathan Denham (6'5''-F), pulled Vassar ahead 22-19.
Yechiel Stewart's three-pointer at the 5:54 mark evened it at 22 until a bucket from first year Gyasi Zinn (6'8''-F) and two Fitzgerald free throws moved the lead back to four.
First year Kas Mirza's triple propelled the Brewers to a 29-24 lead with 2:16 to go and Neuenhaus' three-point play with 36 seconds remaining gave Vassar its largest lead of the half.
A late Andrew Deppe lay-in with 24 seconds to go cut the halftime lead to 32-28 for Vassar.
Vassar concluded the first half shooting 44.8-percent from the field while going 2-for-10 from three-point range.
RPI shot 34.5-percent overall in the opening 20 minutes and connected on 2-for-9 from three-point territory.

Second Half
RPI evened the game at 32 after buckets from Feeks and PJ Scalisii before a three-pointer from senior Nathan Denham put the Brewers back ahead 35-32.
The Engineers pulled in front by two at the 17:22 mark on a triple from Feeks until the Brewers soared back ahead 43-39 on a three from Fitzgerald and a bucket from Karageuzian.
Vassar's lead expanded to 49-44 on a putback from Zinn and then Fitzgerald's three at the 5:14 mark put Vassar ahead by seven at 53-46.
Following a Neuenhaus layup to gain a 55-48 lead, RPI scored the next five points to cut the lead to two on a Feeks three with 1:19 remaining.
Vassar held RPI scoreless in the final minute as two free throws from Neuenhaus put the Brewers up by four and sent Vassar to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history.
Vassar finished the second half shooting 30-percent overall but connected on 3-for-6 from three-point range.
RPI closed the final 20 minutes shooting 47.6-percent from the field and 3-for-7 from three.

For The Brewers
Neuenhaus recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Fitzgerald, tournament's MOP, posted 14 points, five rebounds and two assists.
Denham tallied 11 points and four boards along with Medina finishing with six assists, four steals, five rebounds and two blocks.
Karageuzian registered eight points and five boards while Zinn recorded four points, three blocks and seven rebounds.

For The Engineers
Feeks posted 12 points and four assists along with Kellen Driscoll (6'3''-G) tallying 11 points and three boards.
Deppe registered 10 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks while Stewart posted 10 points and five boards.
Scalisi and Smith each chipped in four points off the bench.

Game Statistics
Vassar shot 37.3-percent from the field, including 6-for-19 from three, and went 7-for-12 from the free throw line.
RPI finished the game shooting 40-percent overall while going 5-for-16 from three and 8-for-10 from the free throw line.
Points off turnovers were even at 11 while Vassar held a 11-2 edge in second chance points and 32-24 in points in the paint.

Courtesy of libertyleagueathletics.com