Jan. 23: The St. Lawrence University men's basketball team earned a 65-57 win over Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY on Friday night, as senior captain Brady Condlin was 8-for-10 from the floor with a team-high 18 points, five assists and four rebounds.  Riley Naclerio added a career-high 15 points, while Willie Zachery had a double-double (13 pts, 10 reb).

St. Lawrence (8-7, 3-4) shot 48% (25-of-52) from the floor to Vassar's 32% (21-of-66), but needed key baskets down the stretch to earn the road Liberty League win and set up a key game with Bard College tomorrow in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY.  Vassar, which was led by Luka Ladan's 18 points and 10 rebounds, falls to 5-10 (1-5).

The Saints closed with advantages in rebounding (42-37), points in the paint (32-20) and bench points (15-0).  Vassar's Erikson Wasyl had five three pointers en route to 17 points, but the Brewers couldn't hang on in the final minutes to secure the home win.

St. Lawrence cruised out to a quick 12-2 lead with hot shooting, as Naclerio and Kaleb Faison each had threes and Zachery and Condlin added lay-ups.  Despite growing the lead to 12, Vassar would rally with a 15-1 run to pull even as the Saints went cold and Ladan got the offense started.  Vassar pulled ahead by six, 28-22, with 3:48 left in the half on a jumper by Ladan.

The Saints would answer with a 7-0 run to end the first half and swing the momentum back in their favor.  Condlin had a bucket followed by a three from Kyle Kobis and Naclerio capped the scoring with a lay-up in the final seconds to pull ahead, 29-28, at the break.

St. Lawrence reclaimed a nine-point edge early in the second half at 43-34 after another three from Kobis.  Wasyl would help bring the lead back with a three of his own, and the teams settled at a 49-49 tie with 6:56 remaining.  A jumper by Leondre Simmon followed by a tip-in from Naclerio put the Saints up four, 59-55, before Ladan nailed a jumper to get within two.

After the two teams exchanged turnovers, the ball found Kobis in front of his bench and the Elma, NY native knocked down the shot of the game, a three with 49 seconds left for a 62-57 lead.  The shot put St. Lawrence over the edge, as Vassar wouldn't score again as the Saints finished the game on a 14-4 run to pick up a pivotal win in the league.

The Saints and Raptors each look to move to 4-4 in league play tomorrow when the teams tip-off at 4:00pm.