Trey Syroka had five steals, and the St. Lawrence University men's basketball held Vassar to just 21-percent shooting in the second half, as the Saints topped the Brewers 47-44 on Saturday evening in Burkman Gymnasium.

Syroka led the Saints scoring as well, going six for seven from the floor to finish with a dozen points. Trent Adamson had 11 points, eight rebounds, a pair of blocks and a steal in a well-rounded effort.

Vassar scored the opening five points, but a Will Engelhardt three sparked a 10-point run for St. Lawrence. The Brewers responded with consecutive triples, and neither team led by more than three for the rest of the half. Engelhardt closed the half the way he started it, with a three-pointer, to even the score at 24 apiece at the halftime break.

Adamson started the second half with a six-nothing run on his own, but Vassar evened the score again at 31. With the Saints ahead 40-38, Syroka poked away the ball for and went down for an open layup. On the next play he got to the paint again for another lay-in. The score hovered around a four-point Saints advantage, and with under 20 seconds left Syroka came up with another steal and break away layup to put the Saints up six. Vassar hit a consolation buzzer beater, and St. Lawrence won 47-44.


"Our defense was dialed in this weekend," said head coach Chris Downs. "We head on the road for six straight, we'll see what our team is really about by February."

Syroka and Adamson account for half of the Saints total points, and seven others finished with points, led by Engelhardt's two three-pointers, and Jack Wirtanen's perfect four for four from the line.

The Saints finished with 10 steal and seven blocks, three from Andrew Cowan in the first half. Vassar out-rebounded the Saints 46-27.

Kevin McAuliffe led Vassar with nine points, all from beyond the arc.

The Saints improved to 7-4 and 3-2 in league play, while Vassar falls to 7-5 and 3-2.

The Saints start their road trip with a 5:30 game at Ithaca on January 13^th.