Statesmen down Cardinals 88-74 in ECAC Quarterfinal

GENEVA, N.Y.—Hobart College senior forward Joe Flacke (Schenectady/ Schenectady, N.Y.) scored 24 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and dished out four assists to lead the Statesmen to an 88-74 victory over SUNY-Plattsburgh in an ECAC Upstate Men’s Basketball Tournament Quarterfinal game in Bristol Gym. This is Hobart’s first postseason victory in its fourth postseason appearance.

The Statesmen jumped out to an eight-point lead, 17-9, in the early going behind Flacke and sophomore Mike Mastro’s (Jericho/ Westbury, N.Y.) combined 11 points. The Cardinals chipped away at the lead over the next seven minutes with a 22-9 run keyed by junior Kris Gibbs-Smith’s (John Marshall/Rochester, N.Y.) 10 points for a 31-24 lead with 7:49 remaining in the half.

Gibbs-Smith finished the contest with a game-high 30 points, including 20 in the first half.

That would be the largest lead of the afternoon for Plattsburgh, as junior guards Colby Feane (Weedsport/Weedsport, N.Y.) and Joe Virgilio (Wheatley/East Williston, N.Y.) knocked down a pair of trifectas to pull Hobart within one, 31-30. Hobart regained the lead for good at the 2:17 mark with a three-pointer by junior Adam Frederic (Holy Cross/ Flushing, N.Y.) and took a 42-40 advantage into the locker room.

Frederic finished with 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including a perfect 3-for-3 from the behind the arc.

Plattsburgh (17-11) scored the opening basket of the second half to tie the game at 42, but it was all Statesmen after that, leading by as many as 14 points. Flacke controlled the paint in the second stanza scoring 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

Hobart held the Cardinals to just 22 percent from behind the arc, including 11 percent in the second half, and forced 20 turnovers.

Canning seven three pointers, the Statesmen tied the 1999-00 team for three-point field goals made in a season at 178. Feane also his pushed record-setting streak of at least one three-pointer made in a game to 24, finishing with 14 points.

Senior forward Johnnie Carter (Newtown/Brooklyn, N.Y.) chipped in 18 points for the Cardinals and collected a game-high 14 rebounds.

The Statesmen (16-10) will meet the winner of No. 1 Oswego and No. 8 Ithaca game played this evening, on March 4, at the site of the highest remaining seed. In the other first-round games, No. 2 RIT (19-8) will host No. 7 Brockport (16-9), and No. 3 Cortland (18-9) will host No. 6 Skidmore (16-9).