CANTON, N.Y.—The third seeded Hobart College basketball team fell to second seeded St. Lawrence, 80-78, in overtime in the Liberty League semifinals in Ronald T. Burkman Gymnasium. The Statesmen fall to 17-10 on the season, while the Saints move to 18-7 and advance to the conference championships on Sunday against RPI.
Senior
Jackson Meshanic led the Statesmen with 20 points, eight rebounds and two assists. Senior
Patrick Walker and sophomore
Aidan Rodgers chipped in 13 points each, while senior
Andrew Lynch added 12 for Hobart.
TEAM TOTALS
- Rebounds: SLU 35, Hobart 32
- Assists: Hobart 16, SLU 14
- Turnovers: Hobart 16, SLU 15
- Steals: SLU 8, Hobart 4
- Blocked Shots: SLU 3, Hobart 0
HERON STAT LEADERS
FIRST HALF
- St. Lawrence jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Lynch hit a deep three-pointer to end the run.
- The Statesmen and Saints traded early points in the opening minutes. Lynch hit another three pointer to give Hobart its first lead of the game at 12-11.
- St. Lawrence would find an answer with a 7-2 run to push its lead to four.
- The Statesmen responded quick with an 8-0 run after points from Walker, Rodgers, Pat Healy and Hunter Meshanic.
- Junior Isaiah Washington posted six points in the half to spark Hobarts offense for a late push.
- Up 24-22, Hobart found another 7-0 run to extend its lead to nine heading into the final minute of the half.
- The Saints closed out the half with two layups to cut their deficit to five heading into the half.
SECOND HALF
- The Saints came out firing to start the second half, going on a 7-2 run to grab back the lead.
- Rodgers hit a deep three pointer to end the early run and slow the Saints momentum.
- Will Engelhardt responded with a three of his own for the Saints to tie the game at 38. This sparked a strong shooting streak from behind the arc for St. Lawrence, as the Saints nailed four three-pointers to grab the lead.
- The Statesmen fought back finding quick buckets from Walker, Meshanic and junior Ryan Lucey to keep Hobart in the game.
- Jackson Meshanic added a clutch three pointer with 6:34 remaining to tie the game back up at 54.
- The Statesmen and the Saints continued to trade points as Jackson Meshanic caught stride in the final minutes, posting nine of his 20 points in the final six minutes of regulation play.
- With the ball and down by two, Rodgers delivered for the Statesmen, finishing off a layup with 6 seconds remaining to force overtime with the Saints for the second time this season.
OVERTIME
- St. Lawrence opened up overtime on a 9-1 run, converting from the free throw line five times to extend their lead to eight.
- With 44 seconds left, Lynch nailed a deep three to bring Hobart back within five.
- The Saints continued to show strong from the free throw line to maintain their lead.
- After a quick push of momentum from the Statesmen and a layup from Meshanic, St. Lawrence's lead fell to just six.
- Lynch would nail another deep three pointer with just 17 seconds remaining to bring Hobart within four.
- Lucey converted a layup with five seconds remaining to make it a one score game, but strong shooting from the line from Aidan Macaulay pushed the lead back to three for the Saints.
- Rodgers would be awarded two free throws with one second remaining but would go 1-for-2 from the line as the time expired and the Saints advanced.
