TAMPA BAY, Fla.—The Hobart College basketball team used a 12-0 second half run to pull away from Washington College on the way to a 69-52 win in the third place game of the Tampa Bay Shootout this afternoon. Senior Trey Blanding scored a game and season-high 18 points to lead the Statesmen.
 
Hobart (5-3) shot a season-high 49 percent from the floor, led by Blanding's 7-of-9 effort. The All-Tournament Team selection also handed out a game-high five assists. Classmates Andrew Hoy and Connor Rehbaum each contributed 10 points. Hoy also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Sophomore Thomas Campion added eight points and six rebounds off the bench.
 
The Statesmen owned a 44-30 rebounding advantage and limited the Shoremen (1-10) to just 33 percent shooting. James Drury led Washington with 11 points. Dave Knox recorded 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
 
The Shoremen built an early 6-point lead, but Hobart countered with eight straight points to take its first lead. The teams traded the lead back-and-forth in the first 12 minutes, but the Statesmen broke a 17-all tie with seven straight points to take the lead for good. Rehbaum made a pair of free throws to start the run with Blanding following with a 3-pointer and a layup to cap it. Hobart led by as many as eight in the waning minutes of the first half before carrying a 32-27 advantage into halftime.
 
In the second half, Washington closed the gap to three after making the first basket of the stanza, but junior Jake Rayburn made it a 5-point lead with a layup and Rehbaum knocked down a 3-pointer to expand the Hobart lead to eight.
 
The Statesmen lead hovered between five and nine points over the next nine minutes before a Knox layup at the 9:34 mark cut it to just four, 46-42. Hobart responded to the threat with 12 unanswered points and 17 of the next 19 points to seize control. Hoy scored half of the Statesmen points during the 12-0 run. Meanwhile, Washington went more than six minutes without a field goal, getting its only 2 points between the 9:34 mark and the 3:07 mark at the free throw line.
 
Hobart will return home for its final non-conference game of the season, hosting Hamilton College at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 4. The game will be broadcast on WHWS-FM (105.7). Fans can also follow the action online with All-Access Video and Live Stats.