GENEVA, N.Y.—Third-seeded Hobart College came out firing on all cylinders in the first half charging out to a 27 points halftime lead on its way to an 89-72 victory over sixth-seeded Bard College in the first round of the Liberty League Men's Basketball Tournament. Senior Colin Dougherty led four Statesmen in double figures with 21 points, a game-high seven assists and six rebounds.
Dougherty was 5-of-9 from the floor with three 3-pointers and 8-of-10 at the line. He raised his career points total to 1,679 points moving past Mike Masino '88 into third place on Hobart's all-time list. Senior Jamal Lucas posted a double-double on 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Junior Tucker Lescoe scored 18 points and handed out four assists and classmate Edens Fleurizard notched 10 points and a game-high three blocked shots. All nine Statesmen to play in the game contributed at least two points.
Hobart (16-10) charged out of the gate against the Raptors, who were making their first Liberty League Tournament appearance. Before the game was five minutes old, the Statesmen owned a 14-2 lead, including 11 points from senior Jamal Lucas. He and Dougherty opened the scoring with back-to-back 3-pointers, before sophomore Alijah Rue got the visitors on the board with a layup. Lucas hit two more triples in the span of 40 seconds and then finished off a layup to complete the fast start.
Bard (13-13) seemed to settle in in the middle of the first half, getting to within eight on a 3-pointer by Stamatis Koulouris, but Hobart got locked in again to the tune of a 17-2 run that included four 3-pointers that ballooned the home team's lead to 23. Dougherty connected from deep twice while junior Tucker Lescoe and senior Sean McKinless both made one 3.
The Statesmen used one more scoring flurry, pouring in the final eight points of the half, to go into halftime with a 50-23 lead. Lucas led all scorers at the break with 13 points, while Dougherty and Lescoe each had 11. Hobart shot 64 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, while Bard shot just 28 percent.
The Raptors redoubled their effort in the second half and made a game of it. In the first 10 minutes, Bard used a 31-12 run to get within eight, 62-54. Armando Dunn and Rue powered the ill-fated comeback with nine and eight points, respectively. The Raptors were 3-of-6 from beyond the arc as they worked off their deficit, but made just 4-of-30 during the other 30 minutes of the game.
A five-point Hobart burst that included a pair of Dougherty free throws and a 3-pointer by sophomore Jack Lesure, pushed the home team's lead back into double digits for good.
With both teams in the bonus for the final eight minutes of the contest, much of the scoring in the late stages of the game was done at the free throw line. Hobart was 15-for-15 down the stretch and 22-for-27 overall, while Bard made 8-of-10 in the closing minutes, 13-of-17 for the game.
Rue led all scorers with 23 points. Dunn added 14 points and senior David Runcie contributed 10 points.
Hobart will face second-seeded St. Lawrence (16-9) in the Liberty League semifinals on Saturday, Feb. 23. The game will be played at Skidmore at 2 p.m. The Saints won both regular season games against the Statesmen this season.