GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart College basketball team shot 53 percent from the field, posted a season-high 16 steals, and got a game-high 28 points from sophomore Jamal Lucas in an 88-73 Liberty League win over Rochester Institute of Technology tonight.
 
Lucas' career-high scoring effort came on 12-of-19 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers and a 2-for-3 showing at the free throw line. Classmate Colin Dougherty added 19 points, including a 6-for-6 performance at the line. First-year Tucker Lescoe scored 15 points and led the thievery with a season-high five steals. Lucas and Dougherty shared team-high honors with five rebounds apiece.
 
Hobart (15-9, 10-5) torched the Bristol Gym nets in the second half, shooting 63 percent from the field.
 
RIT (12-12, 6-9) put four players in double digits led by junior Troy Pierre-Louis' 21 points. Juniors Anthony Lewis, Jaymee Rosser, and A.J. Horde netted 13, 11, and 10 points, respectively. Horde also dished out a game-high five assists. The Tigers shot 47 percent from the field and 33 percent from long range, but suffered 20 turnovers.
 
The Statesmen got off to a fast start, racing out to a 21-2 lead. Lescoe scored the first seven points of the game before RIT first-year Robert Aguilera made a pair of free throws. Hobart then poured in 14 points in a row. The Tigers made their first field goal of the game, a 3-pointer by Rosser, at the 11:29 mark.
 
Still trailing by 11 with six and a half minutes to go in the first half, RIT rallied with a 14-4 run, whittling its deficit down to just a single point at halftime. Pierre-Louis had seven points in the final five minutes of the half.
 
Hobart maintained its lead for most of the second half, but couldn't shake the pesky Tigers. Dougherty made a layup with less than seven minutes to go that put the Statesmen up 66-59, but RIT rattled off seven points in a row to tie the game for the first time since 0-0. Lewis led the rally with five points.
 
Hobart responded to the threat with back-to-back 3-pointers from Lescoe and Dougherty that kick-started an 18-2 run over the next four minutes that put the game out of reach. Lucas scored nine points and Dougherty added seven during the clinching rush.
 
RIT, which was mathematically eliminated from Liberty League playoff contention with the loss, will close out the regular season at home at 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17 when they host Union College (12-10, 8-6). The Statesmen will wrap up the regular season at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 18, when they travel to Union.
 
Hobart will be either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the Liberty League Tournament, which begins on Feb. 22.