SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.—The third-seeded Hobart College basketball team was defeated 82-66 by top-seeded Skidmore College in the Liberty League Tournament Championship game this afternoon.
 
Statesman senior Colin Dougherty led the team with 15 points, moving him past Joe Corbett '03 into second place on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,715 points. Classmate Jamal Lucas added 13 points and finished his career with 1,470, 10th in Hobart history. Junior Edens Fleurizard scored 10 points and shared team-high honors with Lucas with six rebounds. Senior Sean McKinless handed out a team-high five assists.
 
The first half was back-and-forth until the Thoroughbreds got in a groove over the final five minutes. Skidmore ended the half on a 12-4 run that included a pair of 3s by Pat Gallagher, to go into halftime with a 34-24 lead. Gallagher's first triple gave the home team a 25-22 lead and his second capped the first half scoring.
 
Hobart Fleurizard and Skidmore senior Edvinus Rupkus were the scoring leaders at halftime with nine points apiece. Rupkus finished with a game-high 22 points.
 
The Thoroughbreds (19-7) carried their momentum into the second half. A Dougherty layup two minutes into the half cut Skidmore's lead to 36-30. The Thoroughbreds responded by breaking the game open with a 19-5 run that saw them make all six of their shots from the floor and 6-of-7 from the line over a four-minute span. Sophomore Noah Meren led the charge with nine of his 18 points. He also recorded a game-high eight assists.
 
Skidmore ran its lead out to as many as 23, before Hobart (17-11) made its best bid to get back in the game. After Rupkus hit a 3-pointer to put the Thoroughbreds up 63-40, sophomore Jack Lesure connected from distance followed by back-to-back treys by Dougherty, making it a 14-point game with under seven minutes to go. However, Skidmore countered with a 7-1 run to tamp down Hobart's hopes of a comeback. The Statesmen didn't get any closer the rest of the way.
 
The Thoroughbreds shot a blistering 66.7 percent from the floor in the second half and 54.5 percent overall. Hobart shot 40.8 percent for the game. Skidmore had the upper hand on the glass, outrebounding the Statesmen 34-26.
 
As a team, Hobart broke the program's season record for free throw percentage, making .753 this year. The Statesmen made 220 3-pointers, fourth on the season list and pulled down 1,056 rebounds, fifth all-time.
 
Individually, Fleurizard broke the season mark for field goal percentage, knocking down .625 this year, just ahead of Richie Bonney's .624 standard. Fleurizard also blocked a team-high 53 shots, third on the season list and the most by a Statesman since Randy Hudson set the season record of 113 in 1978-79.
 
Junior Tucker Lescoe made a team-high 71 3-pointers (4th on the season list), marking the third time in as many seasons that he's drained 70 or more from distance. He also shot .901 at the free throw line, also fourth on the season list. Lescoe reached the 1,000-point plateau in yesterday's semifinal win over St. Lawrence and will begin his seniors season 30th on the all-time list with 1,020 points
 
Dougherty, Lucas and McKinless led Hobart to a 66-40 record over the past four seasons, including a 21-win season and Liberty League regular season championship in 2017-18.