SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College men's basketball team could not overcome a slow start to its Liberty League matchup with Vassar College on Tuesday night, falling by the score of 70-52 at Viniar Athletic Center.
 
Union (2-11, 1-5 Liberty League) was paced offensively by senior Sean Regis, who came off the bench to score a season-best 11 points in 24 minutes while adding two steals and a block. Senior Mike Manley added 10 points and fellow senior Justin Regis continued his recent rebounding binge with 12 more caroms.
 
Kevin McAuliffe led three Vassar (8-5, 4-2 Liberty League) players in double figures with a game-high 15 points, followed by Ethan Ellis with 14 and Avni Mustafaj with 11 and seven assists.
 
Neither team had a great eye for the basket on the evening, with both squads shooting under 40 percent from the field. Vassar shot 38.2 percent (21 of 55) from the field but actually shot better from beyond the arc, hitting 11-of-28 attempts (39.3 percent). Union finished the night at 33.9 percent (19 of 56) from the field and just 2-of-13 from long range.
 
Vassar jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, but Union came back to take its first lead after a fastbreak slam by first-year Aren Cummings put the home team up 9-8. The home team held the Brewers without a field goal for six minutes midway through the frame but could not extend its lead to more than two, as Union went over 10 minutes between Manley's jumper with 13:17 left (which put Union up 11-10) and a jumper by junior Edward Baptiste with 2:53 left that ended a 17-3 Vassar run.
 
Going into the second half with a 31-18 lead, Vassar started the second stanza on an 11-1 run to build up a 23-point lead early in the frame, and Union was never able to get the deficit lower than 14 the rest of the way.
 
Union will continue its seven-game homestand on Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Rochester Institute of Technology.