Box Score

GENEVA, N.Y.—The race for the Liberty League men's basketball regular season championship will go down to the final day. Rensselaer moved into a first place tie with Hobart by virtue of a 91-78 victory over the Statesmen in Bristol Gym tonight.

Hobart (18-6, 10-3) will earn the top seed in the four-team league playoff with a win over Vassar (3-21, 1-12) on Saturday, Feb. 19, or with a loss by the Engineers (16-7, 10-3) at Hamilton (15-8, 9-4) tomorrow. RPI is the only other team in the conference with a chance to win the regular season title. The Engineers need to top the Continentals and have the Brewers upset Hobart. Hamilton and Skidmore (15-9, 9-4) have also secured a spot in the tournament.

Rensselaer got hot from beyond the arc, draining nine 3-pointers in the contest, including six in the first half. The Engineers also took advantage of Hobart turnovers, outscoring the Statesmen 20-15 on giveaways. RPI also dominated the glass, outrebounding Hobart 45-29.

Statesmen sophomore guard Stefan Thompson led all scorers with 22 points. He also logged a game-high five assists. Senior guard Tim Llewellyn added 13 points, while junior forward Matt Pebole and first-year guard Blair Helton contributed 10 points apiece.

RPI also had four players hit double digits, paced by senior guard Travis Jones' 16 points. Junior guard Matthew Pooley chipped in 13 points, while senior guard DJ Blakemore and first-year guard Joe Gibbons netted 12 points each.

The Engineers led by as many as nine points in the first half, but Hobart was able to close to within four, 37-33, at the break with a 7-2 closing run. Pooley led all scorers with eight points, including a pair of 3s, at halftime.

In the second half, the Statesmen were able to close the gap to three on three occasions in the first five minutes, but couldn't get over the hump.

Clinging to a four-point lead with 12:40 remaining, RPI broke the game open with eight unanswered points. Pooley and Gibbons started the run with back-to-back layups. Following a pair of free throws by senior guard Jeremy Bull (6 pts), sophomore forward Daniel Martin (8 pts) made another layup for a 61-49 lead. The Engineers stretched their advantage to as many as 14.

Hobart used seven unanswered points in the final three minutes to halve that deficit, but Rensselaer went 6-for-6 from the line in the final 79 seconds to close out the victory.