Box Score

Geneva, N.Y.-- Hobart College made clutch shots down the stretch on the way to a 76-71 win over Skidmore College in Liberty League men's basketball action Friday night.

The Thoroughbreds fall to 1-1 in Liberty League play and 7-5 overallwhile the Statesmen are 2-0 and 10-3.

Gerard O'Shea's layup with 7:40 to go gave Skidmore a 62-53 lead, the largest lead for either side. Bonney scored the game's next six points to get Hobart within three. Terron Victoria notched a traditional 3-point play to stop the streak and double the Thoroughbreds lead.

The Skidmore lead was seven with under three minutes to go when the Statesmen kicked their decisive charge into high gear. Five straight Hobart points made it a 2-point game entering the final minute. O'Shea hit another layup with 45 seconds to go for a 71-67 advantage. It proved to be the Thoroughbreds final points of the contest.

Sophomore guard Stefan Thompson's traditional 3-point play closed the gap to just one with 41 seconds left. Hobart quickly fouled and Skidmore missed the front end of the one-and-one. Bonney grabbed for the rebound, but was fouled. He sank both of his chances from the charity stripe for a 1-point Hobart lead.

At the other end of the floor, O'Shea was able to slice to the basket, but his layup hung on the rim for a moment before falling outside the cylinder into the waiting hands of Bonney, who handed off to senior guard Tim Llewellyn. He was fouled with nine seconds left and sank both of his freebies.

With a 3-point lead, Hobart fouled to send Skidmore to the line for a one-and-one with 12 seconds left, but O'Shea missed the first and senior guard Mark Bruce was fouled attempting to grab the rebound. His pair of 1-pointers iced the victory with just 3 ticks remaining.

Victoria paced the Thoroughbreds with 15 points, while Brian Lowry was the only other Skidmore player to reach double figures, netting 10 points off the bench.



Hobart will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 15, when Union visits Bristol Gym. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. Skidmore will play at the same time, traveling to Hamilton.

HOBART 76, SKIDMORE 71



SKIDMORE (7-5, 1-1 LL)

Terron Victoria 6-14 1-4 15; Brian Lowry 3-9 2-2 10; Kyle Clark 4-4 0-0 9;

Gerard O'Shea 4-12 0-1 9; Perun Kovacevic 3-4 1-2 7; John Mantas 2-7 3-5 7;

Melvis Langyintuo 0-4 4-6 4; Quenten Howard 2-4 0-0 4; Jeff Altimar 1-5 2-2

4; Kevin Dahill 1-1 0-1 2; Raoul Oloa 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 26-68 13-23 71.



HOBART (10-3, 2-0 LL)

Richie Bonney 5-6 4-6 14; Stefan Thompson 5-6 2-4 13; Blair Helton 4-13 1-4

11; Mark Bruce 4-9 3-4 11; Tim Llewellyn 3-10 3-5 11; Matt Pebole 3-11 2-3

9; Adam Salzmann 1-2 0-0 2; Trevor Short 1-1 0-0 2; Greg Stern 1-1 0-0 2;

Sean Peer 0-3 1-4 1; Conner Vandegriff 0-0 0-0 0; Brian Burbank 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals 27-63 16-30 76.



Skidmore...................... 35 36 - 71

Hobart........................ 32 44 - 76



3-point goals--Skidmore 6-24 (Brian Lowry 2-5; Terron Victoria 2-5; Gerard

O'Shea 1-3; Kyle Clark 1-1; Quenten Howard 0-1; Jeff Altimar 0-3; Raoul Oloa

0-2; Melvis Langyintuo 0-2; John Mantas 0-2), Hobart 6-20 (Tim Llewellyn

2-7; Blair Helton 2-7; Stefan Thompson 1-1; Matt Pebole 1-1; Adam Salzmann

0-1; Mark Bruce 0-2; Richie Bonney 0-1). Fouled out--Skidmore-Kyle Clark,

Hobart-None. Rebounds--Skidmore 46 (Jeff Altimar 7; Melvis Langyintuo 7),

Hobart 42 (Richie Bonney 8). Assists--Skidmore 9 (Gerard O'Shea 3), Hobart

13 (Stefan Thompson 4). Total fouls--Skidmore 30, Hobart 22. Technical

fouls--Skidmore-Gerard O'Shea, Hobart-None. A-300

Full story to follow.