HENRIETTA, N.Y.—First-years Colin Dougherty and Jamal Lucas combined for 42 points to lead the Hobart College basketball team to an 85-79 Liberty League victory at the Rochester Institute of Technology tonight. They led four Statesmen in double figures with 21 points apiece.
 
Dougherty was 8-of-12 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers and a perfect 3-for-3 at the free throw line. Lucas was 7-of-13 shooting with three triples and a 4-of-6 effort at the charity stripe. The Statesmen also got 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds from first-year Matt Walsh while sophomore Luke Ruddy added 10 points and seven boards. Junior Pete Drescher handed out a game-high seven assists.
 
Sophomore AJ Horde erupted for 31 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers. He was 11-of-22 from the floor with six 3-pointers. Senior Kamron Davis chipped in 18 points and nine boards.
 
Hobart held the upper hand in field goal shooting (49% to 44%), rebounding (41-36), and turnovers (12-13).
 
The Statesmen trailed 42-39 at halftime, thanks in no small part to Horde's 21 first-half points.
 
Dougherty and Lucas came out firing in the second half, leading the Statesmen on a 15-8 run in the first six and a half minutes. Dougherty had 6 points and Lucas 5 in the surge that put Hobart in the lead for good. The Statesmen pushed their lead to as many as 10, but RIT (12-12, 8-7) kept trying to claw its way back into the game.
 
After a Walsh 3-pointer put the Statesmen up 77-67 with 3:26 to go, Troy Pierre-Louis, Horde, and Davis converted layups in succession to make it a 4-point Hobart lead with 1:47 to play. Drescher stopped the run with a jumper to complete his 7-point night, but Pierre-Louis logged an old fashion 3-point play to make it a 79-76 game with 76 seconds remaining. Lucas squashed the threat with the game's next 4 points.
 
The Statesmen improved to 11-13 overall, 7-8 in league play. Hobart is now 9-2 when scoring at least 70 points in a game and 3-0 when both Dougherty and Lucas scored 20 points in a game.
 
Despite the victory, the Statesmen have been eliminated from Liberty League Tournament contention. Hobart, with a win over Union and end of regular season losses by RIT and Vassar, can still finish in a three-way tie for fourth place. However, the Brewers would get the final tournament spot by virtue of a 3-1 record against the Statesmen and Tigers. Hobart split with both teams, but Vassar swept RIT.
 
The Statesmen will wrap up the season at home on Friday, Feb. 19, when they host the Dutchmen at 8 p.m.