GENEVA, N.Y. -- The Hobart College basketball team trailed by as many as nine points in the second half, but staged a furious comeback effort that fell just short of the Rensselaer Red Hawks, 75-72. The Statesmen fall to 4-7 on the season, 2-3 in the UCAA, while the Red Hawks improve to 7-3, 1-1.
After falling behind 69-60 with 5:34 remaining, the Statesmen used an 11-2 run in the waning minutes of the second half to forge a 71-71 tie with 45 seconds remaining in the contest. Junior Tom Clark (Albany Academy/Albany, N.Y.) made a short jumper with 18 seconds remaining to put Rensselaer back on top for good. Clark finished with 10 points. Senior Rob Pisanelli (Our Lady of Lourdes/Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) made 1-of-2 free throws with eight seconds to go to cut Hobart's deficit in half.
Junior Bobby Hurley (Dushore, Pa.) raised the Red Hawks lead to three with a pair of free throws with four seconds to play. Junior Kevin Leonardo got off a desperation shot at the buzzer that fell shy of the mark.
The exciting ending was almost avoided early in the contest. Rensselaer came out of the gate quickly, taking a 6-0 lead that prompted a timeout by the Statesmen. It was a well timed TO, as Hobart returned to the court and commenced a 22-2 run that gave them a 14-point lead with 12:51 remaining in the opening 20 minutes. After the Statesmen pushed their lead to as many as 17 points, the Red Hawks used a 19-6 run to close out the first half trailing 35-31.
First-year Joe Corbett (Haverford School/Philadelphia, Pa.) led Hobart with his second double-double of the season, scoring 18 points to go with 13 rebounds. Senior Josh Ryan (Homer/Homer, N.Y.) also added a double-double with 11 points and 14 boards. Pisanelli finished with 13 points and moved into sixth place on the Hobart career scoring list with 1,292 points, passing Carmen Genovese '70 (1,288).
Rensselaer senior Alex Dowlin (Phoenix, Ariz.) led all scorers with 31 points.
The Statesmen will return to action on Wed., Jan. 12, in the Chase Scholarship Tournament. The pairings for the tournament will be announced tomorrow.
--HWS SPORTS--
