Box Score TROY, N.Y.—The Hobart College basketball team dropped a Liberty League contest at Rensselaer today, 65-61. The Statesmen slip to 7-13 overall and 4-5 in the conference, while the Red Hawks move to 11-9 on the season and 5-4 in the Liberty League.

Hobart sophomore guard Rob Estep (West York/York, Pa.) led all scorers with 22 points, while first-year forward Matt Pebole (Red Bank/Little Silver, N.J.) added 20 points. Both also pulled down five rebounds. Sophomore forward Adam Salzmann (Kingston/Connelly, N.Y.) recorded seven points and nine boards for the Statesmen, and sophomore guard Tim Llewellyn (West York/York, Pa.) notched a game-high eight steals, tying the Hobart record for steals in a game for the second time this season.

Sam Simmons led Rensselaer with 22 points and eight rebounds. Mike Brion and Tim Rupp added 11 and 10 points for the hosts, respectively, while Ricky Philatre grabbed 12 rebounds.

The Statesmen trailed for the entire first half, but never by more than nine points. With RPI in front 23-14 at the eight-minute mark, Pebole converted a traditional three-point play to cut his team's deficit to six. The next time down the court, he scored again to cut the lead to 23-19. The teams traded baskets to end the half, and the Red Hawks took a 31-26 advantage into the break.

Hobart started the second half with a 13-4 run. The Statesmen took their first lead of the game, 33-32, following a three-pointer from Salzmann, and increased their lead to 39-35 after another three from first-year Greg Stern (Jamesville-Dewitt/Jamesville, N.Y.).

The Red Hawks came back to tie the game at 39-all on a lay-up from Rupp, and went on to build a 55-44 lead by the 7:59 mark

Hobart would not go away, and took off on a 13-3 scoring run over the next six minutes. Pebole netted five points, including another three-point play, during the stretch, while Stern, Estep, Llewellyn, and Salzmann teamed up for eight. With 1:54 left on the clock, the Statesmen had cut Rensselaer's lead to one, 58-57.

Simmons connected from beyond the arch with 40 seconds remaining to put the hosts up 61-57. With four seconds on the clock Estep hit one last three-pointer to trim the hosts' lead to 63-61, but Hobart would run out of time. DJ Blakemore made two free throws with one second on the clock to close out the game.

The Statesmen will be back in action Feb. 13, when they host St. Lawrence for a Liberty League contest at 8 p.m. For live coverage options, visit the Hobart basketball schedule page.