POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (March 3, 2007) -- A free throw by sophomore Lenny Holt (Watertown, MA/Watertown) with five seconds remaining proved to be the difference in a close-fought ECAC Upstate Men's Basketball Championship Game, as No. 1 Vassar eked out a 66-65 win over No. 2 Oswego State on Saturday at the Athletics & Fitness Center.

Lawrence Avitabile (Southington, CT/Southington) set up Holt's heroics, pulling down a tough off-balance defensive rebound and firing an outlet pass to Holt who was streaking upcourt. Holt took the ball in for a lay-up and drew a foul, sending him to the line where he hit 1-of-2 with five seconds remaining. Todd Franze's (Westfield, NY) three-pointer at the buzzer for Oswego State bounced in and out, giving the Brewers their first ECAC title.

Tyson Brazell (Salt Lake City, UT/Waterford) led the Brewers with 28 points, en route to being named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. The 28 points matched a career-high for Brazell who also dished out four assists and grabbed six rebounds. Avitabile chipped in
with 13 points and nine rebounds, five on the offensive glass, and Brian Butterworth (Hamilton, MA/Hamilton-Wenham) added 12 points.

For the first 26:49 of the game, the Brewers never trailed. However, a Kyle Reuter (Central Square, NY) three-pointer tied the game with 13:35 to play and Franze then gave the Lakers their first lead in emphatic fashion, stealing the ball at half-court and throwing down a two-handed dunk for a 45-43 Laker lead.

Oswego maintained its lead for the next four minutes, but never extended it beyond four points and after Brazell bounced home a tough spinning lay-up, Vassar regained a 52-51 lead. The Lakers reclaimed the lead with 7:04 to play on a three-pointer by Erik Roberson (Buffalo, NY) and Oswego didn't trail again until Holt's winning free throw.

Roberson almost single-handedly kept the Lakers in contention, scoring 11 of his team's final 14 points. Roberson's jumper with 3:02 to play gave the Lakers a 65-61 lead, but Oswego failed to score for the remainder of the game. Two free throws from Brazell and an Avitabile reverse lay-up tied the game at 65 with 1:45 left to play and Holt's lay-up would be the only point scored by either team for the remainder of the game.

The Brewers led for the entire first half, extending their lead to as much as ten following a Joe Davis (East Amherst, NY/St. Joseph's Institute) free throw with 11:07 to play in the half. After draining ten first half three-pointers in their semifinal match-up versus SUNYIT, the Lakers sank
just two in the first fifteen minutes of the game. However, two consecutive three-pointers in the final five minutes came at a crucial moment, as Tom Downing (Staten Island, NY) and Reuter each hit one from downtown to cut Vassar's lead to one with 4:06 remaining in the half.
Brazell, who netted 13 first half points, responded with two consecutive lay-ups to, but lay-ups by Mat Burridge (Hannibal, NY) and Reuter again cut the Brewer lead to one, with two minutes to play in the half. Brazell scored four points in the final 1:28 to help the Brewers take a 32-29 lead into the locker room.

Roberson led four Lakers in double-digits with 16 points and four assists.  Franze chipped in with 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Reuter and Downing contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Vassar closes out its season with an 18-10 record, while Oswego finishes the season at 17-13.

2007 ECAC Division III Men's Upstate Basketball Championship

Quarterfinal Games - Wednesday, February 28th
Game #1 - No. 1 Vassar College 80,
                   No. 8 Hilbert College 63

Game #2 - No. 2 SUNY Oswego 74, 
                   No. 7 Rochester Institute of Technology 63

Game #3 - No. 3 SUNYIT 96
                   No. 6 Clarkson University 84

Game #4 - No. 4 Ithaca College 80,
                   No. 5 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 69

Semifinal Games - Friday, March 2nd
Game #5 - Vassar 84
                   Ithaca 76

Game #6 - Oswego 91
                   SUNYIT 84

Championship - Saturday, March 3rd, 2 p.m.
Vassar 66
Oswego 65

MVP: Tyson Brazell, Vassar