GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart College basketball team sent its three seniors off with a thrilling 83-80 win over Bard College in Bristol Gym this afternoon. The Statesmen took the lead for good on senior
Colin Dougherty's driving layup with 33 seconds left in the game.
Junior
Edens Fleurizard turned in his most dominant performance as a Statesman. He made 11 of his 12 shots from the floor and 4-of-5 at the line for a career-high 26 points. He also led Hobart to a 43-33 rebounding advantage, pulling down a career-high 16 boards. Dougherty and junior
Tucker Lescoe both scored 18 points and senior
Jamal Lucas added 12 points.
The Statesmen (14-9, 11-5) shot 46 percent from the floor, 40 percent from 3-point land and 83 percent at the free throw line. The Raptors shot 44 percent from the field, 32 percent from deep and 78 percent at the line.
Hobart used a 9-2 run late in the first half to build a 10-point lead. Lescoe capped the run with one of his four 3-pointers, giving the home team a 40-30 lead. The teams traded baskets before heading into the locker room with the score at 42-32. Fleurizard made all five of his shots from the field and had a game-high 12 points in the opening 20 minutes.
The Statesmen extended their lead to as many as 13 in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Raptors came roaring back. Over a four minute span, Bard scored 14 straight points to take a 55-52 lead. Hobart countered with an 11-3 run that was fueled by seven points from Fleurizard for a nine-point lead with about three and a half minutes left.
The Raptors (12-11, 8-8) rallied once more, scoring nine straight to tie the game at 77 with under a minute to go. That set the stage for Dougherty's go ahead bucket. He dribbled the ball into the lane, made a hesitate move just below the free throw line and then exploded to the rim to regain the lead.
Fleurizard blocked Bard's next shot, one of his two rejections in the game, and the Raptors left another layup short and were forced to foul, putting Dougherty on the line with eight seconds to go. He made both freebies for a four-point Hobart lead.
David Runcie drained a 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds remaining. Dougherty was fouled on the inbounds play and made two more free throws to wrap up the scoring with 0.7 seconds left. Bard's heave at the buzzer rebounded off the back board.
The Raptors' Justyn Rogers posted team-highs of 21 points and eight rebounds. Alijah Rue added 17 points. Armondo Dunn and Runcie each had 12 points.
Hobart will wrap up the regular season with a two-game road trip to Vassar and Union next weekend.
