January 27, 2006

GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart basketball team dropped an 82-54 decision to visiting St. Lawrence University in Liberty League action this evening. The Saints remain unbeaten in the conference, 6-0 (8-8 overall), while the Statesmen slip to 3-3 (7-9).

Sophomore forward John Grazioli (St. Anthony’s/Melville, N.Y.) was the only Hobart in double digits, finishing with 10 points. The Statesmen shot just 32.8 percent from the floor and were 2-of-12 from beyond the arc.

St. Lawrence, on the other hand, connected on 50.8 percent of its shots, including 11-of-18 from long range. First-year forward Bela Vonnak (Canajoharie/Canajoharie, N.Y.) and graduate student guard Jimmy White (Pacific Hills School/Santa Monica, Calif.) produced identical 14-point efforts, while sophomore guard Tyler Shaver (OFA/Ogdensburg, N.Y.) finished with 13 points.

Unbecoming of the final score, the first half actually was fairly close through the first 15 minutes. Hobart held the biggest lead during the time, 20-13 with 9:15 left, but that’s when the tide began to turn.

From their, the Saints outscored the Statesmen 28-8, including a 15-2 outburst to break a 26-all tie and close the half with a 13-point lead.

Junior forward Mike Mastro (Jericho/Westbury, N.Y.) grabbed a game-high eight rebounds for Hobart.

The Statesmen are back in action at 4 p.m. on Jan. 28, when they host Clarkson University. The Golden Knights (4-13, 1-5) also lost tonight, succumbing to Hamilton College, 70-57.