January 2, 2007

GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart College basketball team had its eye on ending St. John Fisher College’s six-game winning streak, but the Cardinals produced a strong second half to leave Bristol Gym with a 64-43 non-conference win. With the loss, the Statesmen fall to 2-6 on the season, as St. John Fisher improves to 7-1.

Senior guard Dan Mueller (Waterloo/Waterloo, N.Y.) led three Fisher players in double digits with a game-high 15 points, including a 5-for-8 performance from behind the three-point arc. Junior forward Justin Beigel (Colerain/Cincinnati, Ohio) and senior center Dan McSweeney (Marcellus/Marcellus, N.Y.) contributed 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Junior forward John Grazioli (St. Mary’s/Melville, N.Y.) paced Hobart with 13 points, but had just three in the second half. Senior guard Mike Manning (Center Moriches/Mastic, N.Y.) chipped in 10, while first-year guard Sean McHugh (Holy Trinity/Mineola, N.Y.) hit on 3-of-6 from long range.

The Statesmen claimed their final lead of the contest, 16-15, on a layup by Manning with 11:56 to go in the first half. From there, the Cardinals went on a 12-2 run to build a 27-18 lead. Grazioli strapped his team on his back and scored the final six points of the half by either team trim Hobart’s deficit to 27-24.

Fisher relied heavily on the long ball in the first half, connecting on 5-of-12 from downtown. The hot perimeter shooting opened up the inside in the second half as the Cardinals made 12 of their 14 field goals after the break inside the arc.

The visitors used an 8-0 run early in the second stanza to balloon a four-point lead into double digits, 42-30. Beigel contributed have of his team’s count during the run. A 10-0 Cardinal surge later in the frame put the contest out of reach.

In addition to shooting 48.3 percent from the floor (47.1 for the game), Fisher used intense pressure to harass Hobart into a 6-for-22 shooting second half (33.3).

The Statesmen, who played just their second home game of the year, head back out on the road for their next contest. Hobart will take on host York (Pa.) College on Jan. 5 in the first round of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.