Joe Corbett '03

February 21, 2003

GENEVA, N.Y.—Hobart College senior forward Joe Corbett (Haverford School/Philadelphia, Pa.) turned in an outstanding performance tonight, scoring 30 points and grabbing 15 rebounds on his way to becoming the all-time leading scorer in Statesmen basketball history. Despite his monster effort the Statesmen fell to UCAA rival Rensselaer 83-76.

Corbett surpassed Mike Massino’s ’88 record by 11 points, racking up 1,675 career points in his four seasons as a Statesman. For his career Corbett is averaging 16.9 points and 12.5 boards per game. Earlier in the year the preseason All-American became the first Statesmen to record 1,000 career rebounds and has since increased his career total to 1,233.

Hobart (9-15, 6-7 in UCAA) came out shooting the lights out as the Statesmen made their first nine shots, including five from behind the arc. Hobart took control of the game at the 16:17 mark with a three-point basket from Brad Strait (Fort Plain/Fort Plain, N.Y.) that sent the Statesmen on an 18-7 run to go ahead 28-18 midway through the first half. Rensselaer (13-11, 7-6 in UCAA) battled back to within four but Hobart responded with a 7-0 run to finish the first half with a 41-29 lead.

The Statesmen shot an outstanding 53 percent (16-30) from the field, while RPI suffered through poor shooting in the opening stanza making just 13 of its 37 shots.

Sporting a 12-point advantage coming out of the locker room, Hobart stretched it to 14 in the opening minutes, but fell cold from the floor midway through the second half as the Red Hawks clawed their way back into the game. A 20-6 run by Rensselaer in the final seven minutes proved deadly for Hobart as the Red Hawks never looked back on their way to the seven-point victory.

The second half was a reversal as the Statesmen shot just 36 percent (12-33) from the floor, while RPI improved their shooting percentage to 53.7 percent on 22 of 41 shooting.

Following Corbett for Hobart was Strait with 18 points and six assists, while senior Davidek Herron (Schenectady/Schenectady, N.Y.) chipped in 16 points and three blocks on the night.

Junior Jared Hite (Wayland/Dorchester, Mass.) scored a game-high 31 points, while Tom Schneider (Bishop Guertin/Nashua, N.H.) and John Van Schaick (Glens Falls/Glens Falls, N.Y.) each added 12 points for the evening.

The Statesmen will close out their regular season on Feb. 22, when they host Vassar College at 2 p.m.