The Hobart College basketball team will tip off the 2014-15 season at Ithaca College tonight at 7 p.m. The Statesmen will be led by first-year Head Coach Tim Sweeney, who joined the program following five seasons at Elon University, most recently serving as the associate head coach.
 
The Bombers (0-1) opened the season on Saturday with an 82-74 loss at Skidmore. Live stats and video from Ben Light Gymnasium will be available online.
 
Sweeney inherited a program that has posted four consecutive 20-win seasons, earned three straight NCAA Championship bids, and captured back-to-back Liberty League Tournament Championships.
 
Last season, Hobart went 22-7, won the Liberty League regular season title with a 13-3 mark, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament with a 94-81 upset of No. 21 Scranton. That squad thrived on the senior leadership of forward Richie Bonney and guard Joe Gibbons.
 
The Jostens Trophy winner as the national player of the year, Bonney is the Statesmen's all-time leading scorer (1,738) and is third in career rebounds (951), trailing only Joe Corbett '03 (1,249, a two-time Jostens Trophy finalist) and Carmen Genovese '70 (967, in 3 seasons). Gibbons was a two-time Liberty League Defensive Player of the Year and scored 1,092 points in three seasons with the Statesmen. They accounted for 46 percent of Hobart's scoring and 43 percent of the rebounding last season.
 
Sweeney has three returning senior starters: guards Trey Blanding, Connor Rehbaum, and Andrew Hoy. Blanding will serve as the team's captain after producing 11.0 ppg and a team-best 5.2 apg. Rehbaum is Hobart's top returning scorer (14.5 ppg) and rebounder (5.0 rpg). He needs 247 points to become the 27th Statesman to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Hoy contributed 7.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.1 apg, and ranked third in the nation in assist-to-turnover (3.96).
 
Rehbaum and Hoy combined to sink 111 of Hobart's 171 3-pointers last season, shooting .372 and .400 from beyond the arc, respectively.
 
Juniors Michael LaValle and Jake Rayburn will bolster the lineup. LaValle is an excellent spot-up shooter who recorded a career-high 13 points at Rensselaer last season. Rayburn returns to the roster after missing his entire first-year due to injury and taking the past two seasons off. As a senior at Bloomfield High School, he led the Bombers to a 21-1 record, producing 16 double-doubles as a senior.
 
The sophomore class is loaded with talent, experience and potential. Guards Pete Drescher (3.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and Thomas Campion (2.4 ppg) saw extensive playing time in 2013-14 with Drescher making five midseason starts when Blanding was injured. Center Zach Grattan (6-foot-9, 235) averaged 8.7 minutes per game behind Bonney, but is set to build on his rookie campaign (1.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg) this season. Classmates Kenan Williams, Connor Costello and Dominique Petty-Fernander add depth to the roster.
 
First-years guard Jack Fay, guard Andrew Riviello and forward Luke Ruddy have quickly adjusted to the collegiate game. Ruddy, a native of nearby Seneca Falls, has seen the most playing time in the preseason and will be a regular in the low post rotation.
 
After visiting the Bombers, Hobart will return home to face Buffalo State on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 8 p.m. for its only home game of the calendar year. The Statesmen will play in the annual Wendy's College Classic Dec. 3-6, visit Sweeney's alma mater, Rochester on Dec. 10, and close out 2014 in sunny Florida in the Tampa Shootout.
 
Five of Hobart's first six games in 2015 will be in the friendly confines of Bristol Gym beginning on Jan. 4, against former Liberty League rival Hamilton. Liberty League play begins Jan. 9 when Clarkson travels to Geneva.