Poughkeepsie, NU (December 3, 2019)- Men's basketball fell to Vassar College on Tuesday night, 79-69. With the loss, the Devils drop to 3-5 overall while the Brewers improved to 2-2.

FIRST HALF
The Devils spent most of the night trailing from behind, as they held their only lead of the game at 6-3 with 17:45 remaining in the half. Senior Kenneth LaRocca and Junior Shawn Smith both nailed threes' to grab their only lead. After back and forth play saw the Vassar lead never grow to double digits, the Brewers went on a 7-2 run to increase their lead to 26-17 with 7:28 left. FDU responded with an 8-3 run of their own to bring the score to 29-25 at the 5:34 mark. Vassar would control the game the remainder of the half, outscoring the Devils 15-8 and ending the half leading 44-33.

SECOND HALF
After a back and forth first 7 minutes of the second half, the Devils finally brought the Vassar lead to only four, 59-55 at the 12:50 mark thanks to layups from Senior Andy Fleurantin and Junior Cameron Saintil. Vassar would get their lead to as large as 9 with 5:16 remaining, 70-61. Junior Oliver Ortman would hit a three, the Brewers would score two, and Fleurantin would knock down another triple to make it 72-67 with 2:54 remaining. Vassar had the final response, closing the game on a 7-3 run with the final score ending, 79-69.  

SECOND HALF FIGHT
After being outscored by 11 in the first half of play, FDU battled Vassar hard in half two, outscoring the Brewers 36-35.

LEAD DEVILS
Fleurantin led all Devils in scoring with 20 points on 7-of-14 (50%) from the field. He also added 6 steals, 6 assists and 4 rebounds. Ortman finished the game with 18 points while knocking down 4 three-pointers. Smith ended with 9 points and 7 rebounds.

COACHES THOUGHTS
"We didn't get off the bus well, and when we finally did, shots didn't fall and we dug ourselves a big hole. I'm proud of our effort but we need to be smarter and pay more attention to the details. Very excited to return home Monday for the first time in nearly a month". – Head Coach Jeff Slanovec

NEXT UP
FDU returns home to the Ferguson Recreation Center after 7 straight games on the road, Monday, December 9 versus Hunter College.  Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.