January 31, 2006

GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart basketball team had three chances to tie Hamilton College in the final minute of tonight’s Liberty League match up, but none of the three-pointers proved true allowing the Continentals to escape with a 66-63 win. Hamilton improves to 15-3 overall, 7-1 in League play, while the Statesmen slip to 8-10, 4-4.

Sophomore forward John Grazioli (St. Anthony’s/Melville, N.Y.) led Hobart (8-10, 4-4) with 14 points, while senior guard Joe Virgilio (Wheatley/East Williston, N.Y.) and sophomore forward Rob Genovese (Deerfield Academy/Geneva, N.Y.) each added 10 points. The Statesmen shot 47.7 percent from the floor, but committed 21 turnovers and they were outrebounded 34-29.

Senior forward Staunton Peck (New Trier/Winnetka, Ill.) and sophomore forward Georgi Chavleishvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) paced the Continentals (15-3, 7-1). Junior forward Tsakane Ngobeni (Soweto, South Africa) chipped in with a double-double on 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Hobart torched the net in the first half, shooting 65 percent from the floor, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, but trailed by as many as eight due in part to 13 turnovers. The Statesmen clawed their way back into the lead late in the frame, but settled for a 37-all deadlock at the break.

Hamilton regained the upper hand early in the second half and slowly built the contest’s biggest lead, 64-55, with 6:17 remaining. Hobart answered with an 8-0 run, capped by a pair of free throws by junior guard Mike Manning (Center Moriches/Mastic, N.Y.), to make it a 64-63 game.

Chavleishvili converted a layup at the other end of the floor with 2:12 remaining to, amazingly, close out the scoring. Down the stretch, Hobart was 0-for-3 from the floor and 0-for-2 from the line with a pair of turnovers, while Hamilton was 0-for-2 and 0-for-1.

The Statesmen are back in action at 8 p.m. on Feb. 3, when they host Union College in Bristol Gym.