February 10, 2004

GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart basketball team got off to a slow start tonight and the Hamilton Continentals took full advantage, racing away with a 92-76 win. Hamilton scored the first six points of the game and never trailed.

The Continentals (14-6, 6-4 UCAA) outscored the Statesmen (7-13, 3-7) 18-4 to open the contest. Hobart’s starters struggled to find their shooting touch as the Statesmen missed 13 of their first 14 shots from the floor. That prompted Head Coach Rich Roche ’87 to go to his bench.

The Statesmen reserves took a big bite out of the Hamilton lead, finishing the first half on a 12-3 run, keyed by three consecutive layups by junior forward Alex Bell (Wallkill/Modena, N.Y.). He finished with a career-high 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting and eight rebounds.

A 5-0 Hamilton run four minutes into the second half gave the Continentals a 10-point lead. Hobart twice made shots over the next two minutes to get its deficit back into single digits, but sophomore guard Tim Welchons’ jumper with 13:39 showing on the game clock put the visitor’s lead back in double digits (57-47) for good. Welchons (New Hartford/New Hartford, N.Y.) was one of four Continentals in double digits with 19 points to go along with five assists.

Senior forward Joe Smith (Vernon-Verona-Sherrill/Sherrill, N.Y.) led Hamilton with 30 points on 13-of-18 shooting and 12 rebounds. First-year forward Tsakane Ngobeni (Soweto, South Africa) added 19 points and 12 boards in 26 minutes, despite picking up his fourth foul before the end of the first half. Senior forward C.J. Cantil (Notre Dame/Whitesboro, N.Y.) also hit double digits, with 10 points, seven boards, and a game-high seven assists.

For Hobart, first-year forward Billy Clarke (St. Mary’s/Manhasset, N.Y.) netted a career-high 24 points, including a 5-of-10 performance from beyond the three-point arc. Junior guard Eric Jacks (St. Sebastian’s/Dorchester, Mass.) played 23 minutes at the point, recording a career-high matching six assists without a turnover.

The Statesmen return to action at 8 p.m., on Feb. 13, when they host Rensselaer.