ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Hobart College basketball team put five players in double figures and clinched a spot in the Liberty League Tournament with a 75-50 win at Bard College tonight. The Statesmen were led by junior Michael LaValle's 12 points.
 
Hobart (16-6, 11-2) opened the game on fire from long range, making its first seven 3-point attempts, including four from LaValle and two from senior Connor Rehbaum, who finished the game with 10 points. The Raptors also shot well, making 3-of-4 from deep during the same seven-minute stretch, but found themselves in a 26-13 hole.
 
Bard (9-13, 4-9) trailed by just five, 30-25, following Alex Fabean-Scotch's 3-pointer, but the Statesmen went on a 16-0 tear to close the half with a 46-25 lead. Senior Trey Blanding led the way with five points in the finishing run. He produced 11 points and a game-high six assists on the night.
 
Bard started the second half with nine straight points to cut its deficit to 12, but Rehbaum drilled a triple to snap Hobart out of its funk and the Raptors trailed by at least 13 the rest of the game.
 
LaValle, Rehbaum and Blanding were joined in double figures by sophomores Thomas Campion and Domonique Petty-Fernander with 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Statesmen shot a season-high 52 percent from the floor and a season-high 58 percent from 3-point range, making a season-high 14 triples.
 
The victory extended Hobart's win streak to eight games and avenged the team's last loss, a 61-57 setback to the Raptors back on Jan. 17. The Statesmen began the day in a three-way tie for first in the Liberty League. That tie is now just two teams as Clarkson lost 75-70 to Union. Skidmore remains tied with Hobart with three games remaining in the regular season.
 
Bard got a game-high 16 points from Harry Johnson and 14 points from Siondueh Burnette.
 
The Statesmen will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 14, when they travel to Vassar (6-16, 2-11). Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m.