Box Score TROY, N.Y.—Hobart junior Mark Bruce scored a career-high 24 points and sophomore forward Matt Pebole added 22 to lead the Statesmen past Rensselaer 75-67 in Liberty League men's basketball action tonight. With the win, Hobart secured a spot in the four-team Liberty League Tournament and eliminated the Engineers from tournament contention.

Trailing 40-36 at halftime, Hobart (15-9, 8-5) chipped away at its deficit, tying the game at 44-all on a layup by first-year Stefan Thompson (11 points) at the 15:29 mark. RPI regained the lead after a pair of free throw shots from Jeremy Bull (13 pts) less than a minute later, but the Statesmen forged another tie, 46-all, at 13:24 on a layup by Pebole.

In fact, he scored 13 straight points for the Statesmen, giving the visitors a 57-51 lead with just 9:54 left in the contest.

The Engineers (14-9, 6-7) stayed close down the stretch, narrowing the gap to three (60-57) with 7:04 remaining on a pair of free throws by Mike Brion (10 pts), but the Statesmen continued to pressure from beyond the arc as Pebole sank his second three-pointer of the game to make it a 68-60 advantage for Hobart with 3:58 left in the contest. The Statesmen finished the night 7-of-19 from behind the arc.

Rensselaer got consecutive baskets to make it a four-point game, 71-67, with 58 seconds remaining, but Hobart made all four of its free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

The Statesmen shot 44.3 percent from the floor, while the Engineers connected on 41.7 percent. The home team scorched the nets to the tune of 51.5 percent to charge out to the halftime lead, but cooled off considerably after the break (29.6 percent).

Rensselaer committed 19 turnovers to Hobart's 14. Statesmen junior Tim Llewellyn was particularly bothersome to the Engineers, recording seven steals to raise his career total to 206.

Hobart will close out the regular season at 4 p.m. on Feb. 20, when the Statesmen visit Vassar (2-22, 0-13).