OSWEGO, N.Y.—The Hobart College basketball team opened the Oswego Max Ziel Tournament with a 65-48 win over SUNY Poly this evening. The Statesmen will face the winner of the Elmira at Oswego game in the tournament championship game Saturday at 4 p.m.
Forward
Jackson Meshanic led Hobart with 16 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Guard
Aidan Rodgers made four 3-pointers on the way to 14 points and a game-high four assists. Guard
Patrick Walker also reached double digits, scoring 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
The Statesmen (2-0) scored the first seven points of the game, capped off by a
Chandler Owenby dunk. SUNY Poly countered with a 19-2 run to build its largest lead of the game, 19-9. Josh Gregory fueled the Wildcats' run with 10 of his team-high 21 points.
Hobart closed the first half on an 18-4 run that turned that 10-point deficit into a 27-23 lead.
Patrick Walker kick-started the surge with a traditional 3-point play. He was one of five different Statesmen to score during the run. Hobart went into the break with the lead despite shooting just 32.4% from the floor, including a 2-of-15 showing from beyond the arc.
Rodgers opened the second half scoring with a 3-pointer, but SUNY Poly struck back with consecutive buckets to trim Hobart's lead to just three. The Statesmen scored the next five points, three by Meshanic and two from Owenby, in defense of the lead.
Hobart enjoyed an 11-point lead with just under 14 minutes left, but a 10-1 Wildcat run over the next four minutes made it a 2-point game. Gregory capped the surge with an old fashion 3-point play.
Hunter Meshanic scored the game's next three points, giving the Statesmen a little breathing room.
Hobart's lead was just four with about seven minutes left when Rodgers caught fire. He sank three consecutive 3-pointers, leading off a 13-1 run that gave the Statesmen a 61-45 lead.
After a sluggish first half, Hobart came alive in the second half, knocking down 53.8% of its shots from the floor, including 5-of-11 from deep.
The Statesmen improved to 3-0 all-time against the Wildcats.