Box Score

GENEVA, N.Y. – The Hobart men’s basketball team shot 51.0% from the field and held on late to beat Rensselaer 81-76, Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Statesmen improve to 10-10 overall and 5-4 in the Liberty League. The Red Hawks fall to 9-11 on the season, including 4-5 in league play.

After a tightly contested first ten minutes of play, the Statesmen started to pull away. Using a 27-12 run in the final 10:34 of the first half, Hobart turned a 16-13 deficit into a 40-28 lead at the break.

Early in the second half, the Statesmen saw their lead grow to as much as 51-34, after Robert Estep (York, PA/West York Area) made a pair of free throws with less than 14 minutes remaining.

Rensselaer made a run late, behind the scoring of senior Sam Simmons (Newburgh, NY/Newburgh) and freshman Jeremy Bull (Woodbridge, VA/St. Stephens & St. Agnes School), cutting the Statesmen’s lead to just four with 30 seconds left. Hobart then made 3-4 free throws to thwart the Red Hawks comeback attempt.

Sean McHugh (Mineola, NY/Holy Trinity) led the Statesmen with 21 points on 7-10 shooting, including 5-6 from three-point range. Tim Llewellyn (York, PA/West York Area) chipped in with 16 points and a game-high seven steals. Estep and John Grazioli (Melville, NY/St. Anthony’s) also reached double figures, with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Simmons produced game-highs in scoring and rebounds, recording 24 points and 12 boards. He also had three steals and three assists. Bull and Sam Zullo (Indian Lake, NY/Broadalbin-Perth) had 16 points apiece for the Red Hawks.

Rensselaer is back in action next Friday (8pm) and Saturday (4pm) when it visits area-rivals Union and Skidmore, respectively.