POUGHKEEPSIE, NY -- The Union men's basketball team sank 12 three-pointers and held off a late Vassar surge to remain undefeated in Liberty League play with a 90-85 victory on Saturday at the Athletics & Fitness Center.
Union improves to 6-7, 3-0 in league play. Vassar drops to 7-4, 1-1 in league play and hosts RPI on Tuesday. Union snaps Vassar's six game winning streak and a previously perfect 7-0 record at home. Union next meets Hamilton on January 19 at home at 8 p.m.
Senior Joe Mackey (Flushing, NY/Archbishop Molloy) led five Dutchmen in double figures with 19 points. Kyle Grimm (Sherrill, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) added 18 points and 13 rebounds, Joey Lokitis (Norton, MA/Phillips Academy) went 3-for-4 from behind the arc to net 17 points off the bench, and Steve Madej (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) and Nick DiMaggio (Croton-on-Hudson/Croton-Harmon) contributed 15 and 11 points, respectively. The 17 point total was a career high for Lokitis.
The Brewers also had five players in double-digits, led by Brian Butterworth's 20 points, 18 of them coming in the second half. Lawrence Avitabile added 17 points, 13 rebounds, and four steals. Joe Davis scored 13 points off the bench.
Union maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the game, taking a 17-point lead into the second half. However, the Brewers fought back and managed to cut the lead to nine off a Davis jumper with 2:44 to play. Grimm answered on the other end, completing a three-point play on a baseline lay-up to give the Dutchmen a 12-point cushion. The Brewers continued to chip away at the Dutchmen lead, but with time winding down they were forced to foul. Union shot eight-for-eight from the charity stripe in the final minute, with Mackey sinking six. Forcella kept things interesting, nailing two three-pointers in the final 13 seconds to create the game's close final score.
The Dutchmen answered by closed out the first half on a 15-2 run fueled by eight points from Lokitis. Lotikis gave the Dutchmen momentum heading into the locker room, slicing through traffic for a lay up with 30 seconds remaining in the half and then sinking a buzzer-beating three-pointer from just past the half-court line.
Union shot 50 percent from three-point range, converting 12 out of 24 attempts. The Dutchmen's shooting was particularly lethal in the first half, as they shot 8-for15 from behind the arc.
Box score
