GENEVA, N.Y.—Sophomore guard Colin Dougherty made a career-high 14 free throws and scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Hobart College basketball team to a 66-61 victory over Fisher College in Bristol Gym this afternoon.
In the scoring column, first-year Tucker Lescoe joined Dougherty in double figures with 13 points, including all three of the Statesmen's 3-pointers. Sophomore guard Jamal Lucas turned in a solid all-around performance, recording eight points, six rebounds, a team-high four assists, and a game-high four steals.
The Statesmen (3-2) dominated the paint, outscoring the Falcons 32-16 and outrebounding them 49-37. Junior forward Luke Ruddy led Hobart with 10 rebounds. First-year forward Edens Fleurizard and Dougherty each added seven boards. Fleurizard also scored a season-high eight points.
Powered chiefly by Dougherty's 14-of-17 effort, Hobart earned 30 trips to the charity stripe, making 21. By contrast, the Falcons got to the line just 12 times, making eight.
Senior guard Broderic Smith scored a team-high 15 points for Fisher, sinking three 3-pointers. Senior guard Kyle Holmes chipped in 13 points. Senior guard Darrell Grady contributed nine points and a game-high five assists. Senior forward Cooper Neal was two points shy of a double-double, finishing with eight points and 10 rebounds.
Fisher, which trailed Hobart for most of the game, was able to keep things interesting by making 11 3-pointers in the game. The Statesmen held a 27-22 lead at halftime and pushed their lead to 10 three times in the second half, but could not completely shake the pesky Falcons.
Less than six minutes into the second half, a layup by sophomore forward Justas Valciukas gave Hobart a 40-30 lead, but Grady answered with a layup of his own. Dougherty then sank two at the free throw line to make it 42-32, but junior guard Jarmontay Thompson drained a 3 to touch off an 8-2 run that got Fisher within four near the nine minute mark. Hobart countered with an 8-2 run of its own, capped by a Lescoe triple, to make it a 52-42 game with six minutes to go. Thompson answered with a 3-pointer of his own to again whittle the Falcons' deficit down to single digits.
Down the stretch, Fisher closed the gap to a single possession just once—a jumper by Holmes with 36 seconds to go made it 61-58—but the Falcons never had a chance to tie. On Hobart's ensuing possession, Fisher was whistled for a foul and then assessed a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct. Lescoe made the two shots for the technical foul and Dougherty made both for the original foul to push Hobart's lead back to seven and effectively ice the victory.
The Falcons will return to action on Wednesday, December 7 when they play host to Rivier University in the Fecteau-Leary Gymnasium at 7:00 p.m.