TROY, N.Y. - The Hobart College basketball team clinched the No. 3 seed in the 2023 Liberty League Men's Basketball Tournament with a 72-67 victory at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on Saturday afternoon.
 
Senior Jackson Meshanic led Hobart with a game-high 18 points. Senior Andrew Lynch matched his career-high with 17 points. He recorded five 3-pointers for the second time this weekend. Senior Patrick Walker and sophomore Carter Meshanic also hit double digits, finishing with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Aidan Rodgers logged nine points, a game-high six assists and four rebounds.
 
Dom Black and Will Fredericks led RPI with 16 points apiece. Black also recorded a game-high nine rebounds.
 
KEY STATS

• Like the one-point game the team's play in Geneva in December, this contest was a close game too. It featured 12 lead changes and 10 ties.
• Hobart outrebounded RPI 39-22, including 18-8 on the offensive glass. Jackson and Carter Meshanic led Hobart with six rebounds apiece.
• The Statesmen outshot the Engineers from the floor and from beyond the arc and were able to overcome a 50% effort at the free throw line by earning 26 trips to the charity stripe, nine more than RPI.

 
FIRST HALF

• The game was tied at 19 midway through the opening stanza. That's when the Engineers scored seven straight points, capped off by a Fredericks 3-pointer, to take their largest lead of the game.
• The Statesmen countered with 10 straight points—including back-to-back triples by Lynch to start the surge—and ended the half on an 18-5 run.
• Hobart went into the break leading 37-31.

 
SECOND HALF

• RPI opened the second half on a 15-6 run that gave the Engineers a three-point advantage with 13:30 remaining.
• Hobart tied the game at 51 on a layup by Carter Meshanic with 7:36 left.
• Over the next five minutes, the teams were separated by no more than a single possession.
• Walker slashed to the basket for a layup at 2:34 for a 65-62 Hobart lead.
• For nearly two minutes, it remained a 3-point game. Jackson Meshanic broke the scoring drought with a 3-pointer for a 68-62 lead.
• The Statesmen went 4-for-8 from the line over the final 45 seconds to close out the win.

 
TOURNAMENT TIME

• Hobart (16-9, 12-6) will host No. 6 Vassar (13-12, 9-9) in the first round of the Liberty League Tournament at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21.
• RPI (17-8, 11-7) will host No. 5 Skidmore (13-12, 11-7) in the other first round game on Tuesday.