January 9, 2007

GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart College basketball team got off to a slow start in its Liberty League opener tonight against Hamilton College, falling to the visiting Continentals 91-67. With barely seven minutes run off the clock, the Statesmen trailed 23-4 and never recovered.

Senior forward John Grazioli (St. Anthony’s/Melville, N.Y.) scored a game-high 22 points for Hobart on 8-of-14 shooting and 6-for-6 from the line. Senior guard Aasim Cunningham (Montclair Kimberley Academy/Montclair, N.J.) and junior forward Rob Genovese (Deerfield Academy/Geneva, N.Y.) each contributed 11 points for the Statesmen.

Hamilton also put three players in double digits in the scoring column, paced by junior center Giorgi Chavleishvili (St. Anne’s-Belfield School/Tbilsi, Georgia), who netted 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Senior forwards Tsakani Ngobeni (St. Anne’s-Belfield School/Soweto, South Africa) and Nick Jones (St. John’s College/Washington, D.C.) contributed 16 and 13 points, respectively.

The two teams played the entire 40 minutes at a frenetic pace. The younger Statesmen committed 26 turnovers compared to 16 for the Continentals. Seven of those miscues by Hobart came during that opening run as Hamilton knocked down nine of its first 12 shots from the floor. Chavleishvili had eight of his team’s first 11 points.

The Statesmen (3-8, 0-1) managed to trim their deficit to 46-31 by halftime thanks to an 8-0 run to end the half. Hobart got no closer after the break.

The top field goal shooting team in the conference, Hamilton (8-2, 1-0) connected on 53.5 percent of its shot on the night, while holding the Statesmen to 42.1 percent.

Hobart is back in action on Jan. 12, when the Statesmen host St. Lawrence. Tipoff in Bristol Gym is scheduled for 8 p.m. There will be live Internet coverage of the contest.