February 13, 2004

GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart basketball team suffered its fifth consecutive loss this evening, falling to visiting Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 81-68. RPI senior forward Jared Hite (Wayland/Dorchester, Mass.) posted a game-high 25 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

Before the contest was barely five minutes old, the Red Hawks (13-7, 7-3 UCAA) had jumped out to a nine-point lead. With five minutes remaining in the first half, Hobart (7-14, 3-8) had closed to within four, but back-to-back Hite layups put RPI back in front by eight. The former field goal boosted Hite’s career total to 1,001 points, making him just the ninth player in school history to reach that milestone. His 15 boards also propelled him into second place on RPI’s all-time list.

The Statesmen went into halftime down 39-33.

Hobart scored the first six points of the second half, including four by first-year Mike Manning (Center Moriches/Mastic, N.Y.), to tie the game, but the Red Hawks used a 15-3 run to balloon their lead back into double digits and take control of the game.

For the second straight game, first-year forward Billy Clarke (St. Mary’s/Manhasset, N.Y.) paced Hobart in scoring with 19 points, including 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Manning was the only other Statesman in double digits with 10 points.

For RPI, junior guard Paris Moore (Kellenberg/Hempstead, N.Y.) contributed 18 points, while sophomore forward Tom Schneider (Bishop Guertin/Nashua, N.H.) and junior guard Kori Massey (Our Lady of Lourdes/Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) added 12 and 11 points, respectively.