First-year Brandon Arnold netted a career-high 20 points and the St. Lawrence University men's basketball team overcame a 15-point deficit to defeat Vassar 80-78 in Liberty League play Friday evening in Burkman Gymnasium.

With the win, the Saints completed a regular-season sweep of the Brewers and improved to 4-13 overall and 2-8 in conference play, while Vassar fell to 5-12 and 4-6.

Arnold shot 7-for-13 from the field and 2-for-2 from the arc, while four other Saints recorded double digits in the win. Chris Miner added a season-high 16 points and 15 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Pierre Coffy netted 17 points, while Dom DeRegis recorded 15 and Ben Crawford added 10 points and nine rebounds.

Both team's traded 3-pointers to get the game started, Pierre Coffy netted a jumper from just outside the paint to give the Saints a 12-7 lead with just over 16 minutes to play in the first half. BJ White then gave the Brewers the advantage on a layup nearing the 13 minute mark, and the scoreboard remained in favor of Vassar for the remainder of the first half.

Vassar had amassed a 15-point lead over the Saints after a nine-point run on back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers from Alex Seff and Lance Tebay. Coffy responded with two from the arc cutting the Brewers' lead to 11 with just about 14 minutes to play.

The Saints' defense capitalized on missed opportunities, while the offense rallied for a comeback. Crawford cut the Brewers lead to just one point on a layup with 5:23 remaining in regulation. Coffy gave the Saints their first lead of the second half with a deep 3-pointer with just over two and a half minutes to play.

St. Lawrence led 74-71 as time crept over the one minute mark. Arnold put the game away going 4-for-4 from the line down the stretch.

"The guys never gave up tonight," said head coach Chris Downs. "They were down by 15, fought back and gave it their all tonight against a tough Vassar team, and I couldn't be prouder of them."



Vassar was led by Jesse Browne, who shot 8-for-12 from the floor and 5-for-9 from the arc, to net 21 points for the Brewers. Paul Grinde added 16 points, 6-for-14 and a team-high 10 rebounds. Zach Bromfeld and Lance Tebay had two blocks each against the Scarlet and Brown.

The Saints will wrap up their third-consecutive weekend at home against Bard tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. in Burkman Gymnasium.