POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.Senior Ryan Freundlich came up with the game of his career, scoring 20 points while pulling down seven rebounds while sophomore guard John Cagianello contributed 19 points to lead Union to a 65-59 Upstate Collegiate triumph over Vassar.

The victory enabled the Dutchmen to remain in the hunt for one of four spots in next weekend"s conference championship tournament. Union, now 8-5 in the UCAA and 18-6 overall, entered the night as one of six teams looking to secure one of four playoff positions. The regular-season champion earns the right to host the tournament February 27 and 28 with the winner of the event securing the UCAA"s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

The Dutchmen, who led by one at the half, 33-32, saw Freundlich score seven of their first nine second-half points to increase their advantage to 42-38 with 14:53 remaining. Freundlich"s layup at 13:02 made it 45-40 in favor of the Dutchmen before his one-of-two free throws made it 51-45 with 9:22 left.

Vassar, however, came roaring back to take a 56-55 lead as Will Byrne connected on back-to-back three-point field goals, the second with 5:46 showing. Frendulich, however once again led the Dutchmen"s charge as his layup with 4:15 left gave Union a 57-56 lead they would not relinquish. Junior forward Devon Bruce came up with a big defensive rebound, passed off to sophomore point guard Chris Murphy who fed sophomore forward Brian Scordato for a three-point field goal that gave the Garnet a 60-56 advantage with 2:06 remaining. It was Murphy"s seventh assist of the game.

Bruce, who finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds of his own, was fouled while going for a defensive rebound and connected on both of his charity shots to give the Dutchmen a 62-56 lead with 1:32 showing. A cross-court pass resulted in a Vassar turnover giving the ball back to Union with 53 seconds left. Murphy then connected on one of two free throws with 50 ticks remaining before Vassar missed an open layup with Murphy coming up with the rebound with 28 seconds showing.

Bruce sank one of two free throws with 21 seconds left before Vassar"s Kyle Dickmann went to the line to shoot two after being fouled on an offensive rebound. Dickmann sank the first shot, to make it 64-59, with Union getting the ball back after senior captain Imbrie Packard was fouled on the rebound with 11 seconds remaining. Packard sank the first charity shot with Scordato"s rebounding securing the Dutchmen"s victory.

Freundlich was the dominating player during the contest"s opening 12:18 as his eight points and five rebounds lifted the Dutchmen to a 21-14 lead with 7:42 remaining. Vassar, which trailed 8-0 with 15:07 showing, came back to take the lead three times in the final 2:11 before a layup by junior forward Devon Bruce, who had seven points and five boards in the first 20 minutes, and two free throws by sophomore guard John Cagianello gave Union a 33-30 advantage with eight seconds remaining.

The Brewers closed to within one at the break, 33-32, when Will Byrne"s offensive rebound and assist resulted in a successful 15-foot jumper by Matt Williams as the buzzer sounded. Cagianello finished the half with 13 points.

Seth Taft led Vassar, now 1-12 in the conference and 5-19 overall, with 15 points while Byrne finished with 13 markers.