On Friday, January 19th, Union’s Women’s and Men’s Basketball teams played against Vassar College in the Viniar Athletic Center. While the men won their game 86 (Union) – 76 (Vassar), the women fell to Vassar 60 (Union) – 70 (Vassar).
The women began balling on the court at 5:30 p.m., with #22 Jelena Perovic ‘26 completing the first two scores for Union. #14 Grace Enselek ‘24, #2 Emma Riley ‘25, and #35 Maddy Mandalicini ‘24 also scored in the first period, but the women were unable to outscore Vassar and were 12 (Union ) to 16 (Vassar) at the end of the first quarter.
Going into the second quarter, the women continued to fall behind Vassar, scoring on 5 out of 17 attempts and going into halftime 23 (Union) to 37 (Vassar). However, the Garnet Chargers turned their game around going into the second half. #32 Jenna Forman ‘25 made the first score of the second half 1 minute and 30 seconds into the third quarter, and the women improved their scoring percentage, scoring on 10 out of 22 attempts.
In the 4th and final quarter, the women continued to improve their scoring percentage, scoring on 7 out of 13 total attempts. In the final minute of gameplay, the Women Garnet Chargers blocked the Vassar Women’s Brewers from scoring, but in the end, they could not overcome the team and lost 60 (Union) – 70 (Vassar). The Garnet Chargers hope to improve their gameplay throughout the season.
The men began balling on the court at 7:30 p.m., with #22 Edward Baptiste ‘24 making the first score of the game 25 seconds into play. Throughout the first half of the game, the Men’s Garnet Chargers scored at a lower ratio than the Vassar Men’s Brewers, but as the game progressed, Union improved their ratio of scoring attempts to scores. At halftime, the Garnet Chargers brought the score to 34 (Union) to 35 (Vassar), completing 17 scores out of 32 attempts.
Coming out of the locker room, the men were determined to overcome Vassar. #23 Aren Cummings ‘26 made three successful scores for the Garnet Chargers within the first 2 minutes and 30 seconds of the second half, with the entire team completing 6 scores out of 7 attempts in the first 5 minutes of the half. As the half progressed, the men continued to score ahead of Vassar. But in the last 5 minutes of gameplay, the Vassar Men’s Brewers upped their game, which in turn caused multiple fouls against the Men’s Garnet Chargers. This allowed for #3 Lemar Fulmore Jr. ‘26, #24 Christian Dufort ‘26 to score on bonus points, with Dufort making 5 successful shots. In the end, the Men’s Garnet Chargers won 86 – 76 and completed 26 out of 37 scoring attempts in the second half.
The Garnet Chargers look forward to continuing their season in the Viniar Athletic Center. Both teams play Skidmore College in Viniar on Friday, January 26th, with the women at 5:30 and the men at 7:30. Come out to support the teams by cheering them on at the court!
