Sports Briefs

Gutsy loss for men's swimming

The Vassar mens swimming team spent a week in Miami preparing for upcoming meets against Montclair State and a combined dual meet at Pace, and the first stop in the journey was against Montclair, where the Brewers displayed a gutsy performance despite losing to the Red Hawks, 91-70.

At Montclairs Panzer Pool, captain Jim Dodington 05 had a season best performance in the 200-yard fly with a 2:09.73, which was good for second place.

Diver Travis Ward 07 pulled double duty, competing in both one-meter events. He placed fourth and first and joined the swimming ranks by performing a personal best 27.44 in the 50 yard free for another fourth place finish.

For Vassar, Matthew Shapiro 06 won the 100 freestyle and then helped the 400 freestyle relay team to a first-place spot. William Oldehoff 06 and Dodington went 1-2 in the 200 breaststroke with times of 2:27.67 and 2:41.83, respectively.

The Brewers return to action on Jan. 29 with an away dual meet at Pace University.

—Jennifer Knopf, Sports Editor

Men's basketball takes St. Lawrence

Guard Daniel Forcella 08 scored eight crucial points down the stretch, and Sophomore Evan Hannays putback off a Judson Winton 05 miss sealed the deal, as the Vassar College mens basketball team won consecutive coference games for the first time since joining the Liberty League in 2001, defeating St. Lawrence by a score of 66-62.

Forcella matched his career high with eight points, on two three-pointers and a layup, taking over the game for five minutes. The first threeball came with 8:07 left in the second half to draw the Brewers within one at 5554. After a missed jumper by St. Lawrences Pat Delmonico, Forcella found a streaking Lawrence Avitabile 08, whose lay-up gave Vassar their first lead since the first minute of the second half.

The Saints retook the lead at 60-58, on a threepointer by Keith Sullivan and a layup by Delmonico, before Forcella stepped up again.

Forward William Kieffer 07 found a wideopen Forcella with a lob pass and Forcellas higharching threepointer was true, to halt the St. Lawrence momentum and put Vassar back on top at 6150, a lead they would not relinquish.

Sullivan hit another driving layup to pull St. Lawrence within two, but Vassar was able to hold on, as Hannay followed up Wintons miss to put the Brewers up by four and effectively ice the game.

Despite shooting just 31.4 percent from the field, Vassar coach Mike Dutton was thrilled with the victory. On nights when your shots dont fall you have to rely on your defense, said Dutton. In the second half we stepped up and got some stops. Hannay and Forcella off the bench game us a lift on both ends of the court. Im really proud of the team effort.

—Jennifer Knopf, Sports Editor