Box Score Hobart College junior Richie Bonney scored a career-high 40 points to rally the Statesmen past Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 90-85 in the Liberty League men's basketball opener for both teams. The forward was 18-of-23 from the floor and also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
Hobart's season-high scoring night included its best shooting performance of the season as the Statesmen knocked down 60.3 percent of their shots from the floor. Hobart also made more free throws (18) than the Engineers attempted (16). The Statesmen also controlled the boards, owning a 35-26 advantage on the glass.
 
Bonney's big night marks the most points in a game by a Hobart player in at least 15 years. He was joined in double digits by junior guard Joe Gibbons with 18 points and senior guard Stefan Thompson with 10 points and a game-high eight assists.
 
The Engineers (5-5, 0-1) shot 49.2 percent from the floor, sinking 10 three-pointers. Jamie Zajac recorded team-highs of 18 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Brendan Farley added 14 points and Tyler Gendron chipped in 11 points.
 
The first half belong to the home team tonight as RPI led by as many as 16 points in the opening 20 minutes and carried a 44-36 lead into halftime. The Engineers built the largest lead of the night by either side with a 16-4 run. Seven different players scored during the surge that saw RPI race out to a 40-24 lead with 3:48 remaining in the first half.
 
Hobart scored the final seven points of the half, including consecutive layups by Bonney, to head into the break down eight.
 
The Engineers stretched their lead to as many as 15 in the second half and still led 79-69 with 7:06 left. Bonney made back-to-back buckets to launch the Statesmen on a 10-1 run to make it an 80-79 game with 4:54 to go. Zajac's jumper a minute later gave RPI a four-point lead, but Hobart countered with eight straight points to take an 87-83 lead with 43 seconds remaining.
 
Five seconds later, Zajac made a pair of free throws to make it a two-point game, but the Statesmen closed out the win with a 3-of-6 performance at the line and tight defense.
 
Hobart will be back in action at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 5, when the Statesmen visit Skidmore.