The Springfield College men's basketball team was clipped by Hobart, 62-61, in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship on Saturday evening in Blake Arena.
Springfield, which was ranked 17th in the most recent D3hoops.com, had its season come to a close with a 23-5 record, while Hobart advanced to its first-ever Sweet 16 and improved to 23-5.
In his final collegiate game, Jake Ross (Northampton, Mass.) registered a game-high 29 points and pulled down nine boards as he became the first men's basketball student-athlete in NCAA Division III history to reach 2,500 points and 1,000 rebounds in his career. Heath Post (Cheshire, Conn.) was tremendous for Springfield, totaling 11 points, nine rebounds, four blocks, and three steals to close out his career with the Pride.
Hobart, which held the lead in the game for just 1:09, rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit to advanced to the third round of the national tournament. Jackson Meshanic registered a team-best 22 points, while Tucker Lescoe scored 15 points and Dan Masino added 13 points. The Statesmen held a 37-27 edge on the glass and shot 22-for-50 (44%) for the game, highlighed by a 12-for-24 performance in the second half.
Springfield got off to another fast start, scoring the first seven points of the game as Ross sliced through the Statesman defense at the 17:17 mark. The Pride's lead would grow to 13-4 when Trey Witter (Unionville, Conn.) scored in transition at 13:54, only to have Masino score five-straight points to make it a 13-11 game with 11:23 to play. Ross would score on back-to-back possessions to push the lead to 23-17 after he powered his way to the rim ,and Witter would finish a floater in the lane to give the Pride its largest first-half lead at 27-19 with 2:54 to go. The Statesman would get within 29-26 when Lescoe connected from well beyond the arc with less than a minute to play but a deep jumper from Post and a heads-up finish in transition at the horn by Daryl Costa (Providence, R.I.) allowed the Pride to take a 33-26 advantage into the half. Hobart, which leads the country in field goal percentage defense, allowed the Pride to shoot 52% in the first half.
Ross would get a huge defensive stop with a block at the rim and come down with a pull up triple to give the Pride a 40-31 cushion at 16:52, and Springfield would open up its first double-digit lead when three freebies from Costa made it a 43-33 at 15:33. Costa would then drill a corner triple as the lead ballooned to 48-35 just over a minute later, but Hobart would storm back with an 11-1 surge to pull within 49-46 with 8:54 on the clock as the Pride called for a timeout.
Ross would score Springfield's first points in over five minutes out of the timeout on a putback, only to have Lescoe bury another deep trifecta to make it a two-point contest. Meshanic would finish between three Springfield defenders at the rim to give the visitors their first lead of the game at 52-51 lead with 6:01 on the clock, but Post would elevate for a score above the rim with contact as his three-point play at 4:51 put the Pride back on top at 56-54. Ross would later come down and bury a three-pointer from the top of the arc for a 59-56 lead with just over three minutes on the clock, but Meshanic would hit 1-for-2 from the line twice and Sam Allen leaked out in transition for a bucket which made it 60-59 with only 20 seconds remaining. Out of a timeout, Post used a shot fake to get free and pulled up for a jumper from the left wing with only seven seconds on the clock to bring the Pride faithful to their feet. However, coming out another timeout, Masino took the ball the length of the court and hit a driving layup with two seconds remaining to lift the Statesmen to the Sweet 16.