POTSDAM, N.Y.—The Hobart College basketball team got a pair of crucial, late-game steals from senior Trey Blanding and a game-high 22 points from senior Connor Rehbaum in a 53-48 win over Clarkson University, knocking the Golden Knights out of first place in the Liberty League.

The Statesmen (12-6, 7-2) extended their winning streak to four games with tenacious defense and another exceptional scoring effort by Rehbaum, who was 8-of-16 shooting, including 6-of-11 from behind the 3-point line. He raised his career scoring total to 1,036, moving up four places to No. 23 on Hobart's all-time list, leap-frogging Dave Aughey '84, Dave Silveri '76, Randy Hudson '79, and Mark Genovese '85.

Defensively, the Statesmen held Clarkson (15-4, 8-2) to 33 percent shooting and 18 percent 3-point shooting. Only Buffalo State (.319) shot worse against Hobart this season.

With three minutes remaining in the game, Blanding made the first of his two steals, a takeaway that led to a layup for sophomore Domonique Petty-Fernander. The basket created the 10th lead change of the night, putting the Statesmen in front 46-45. The Knights missed a jumper at the other end of the floor and senior Andrew Hoy secured the rebound, leading to a layup for Blanding. CU tried a triple to tie the score, but missed and Petty-Fernander grabbed the carom. Rehbaum doubled Hobart's advantage with his final 3-pointer of the night.

Blanding came up with his second steal with 34 seconds left, setting the stage for sophomore Pete Drescher's layup, assisted by Rehbaum, that put the visitors in front 53-45. With just 21 ticks left, Clarkson made it a 5-point game with a 3-pointer, but missed its last two field goal attempts to suffer its first loss in seven games.

Hoy chipped in eight points and six rebounds for the Statesmen. Petty-Fernander grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to lead Hobart to a 41-38 rebounding advantage.

In the first half, Hobart used an 11-2 run to build a 20-15 lead with 4:46 remaining. Rehbaum accounted for eight of the Statesmen points while sophomore Thomas Campion notched the other three.

Clarkson countered with nine straight points go up 24-20 with less than a minute remaining. Blanding's layup just ahead of the buzzer set Hobart into halftime, trailing 24-22.

After the break, Hobart reclaimed the lead early and led by as many as six, including a 41-35 lead following a Rehbaum 3-ball with 7:21 left to play. The Golden Knights rattled off the next eight points to take a 43-41 lead on Charles McAllister's 3-pointer with 4:09 left. Hoy put the Statesmen back in front by one with a 3-pointer of his own, but John Coleman's jumper at 3:26 gave CU its final lead of the contest, setting the stage for Blanding's thievery.

Clarkson got a team-high 16 points from Felix Abongo while Coleman chipped in 11 points and nine rebounds.

Hobart will be back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 3, when the Statesmen host Union in another league contest. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.