Bonney, Gibbons lead Statesmen to key Liberty League win over Brewers

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GENEVA, N.Y.—Seniors Richie Bonney and Joe Gibbons took on leading roles in the Hobart College basketball team's 68-52 win over Vassar College this afternoon. The Liberty League leading Statesmen improved to 17-5, 11-2 in conference play while the Brewers slip to 15-5, 7-4.
 
Bonney scored a game-high 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including a 3-pointer, and 4-of-6 at the line. He raised his career point total to 1,584, tying Matt Pebole '12 for seventh place on Hobart's all-time list. He also pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds as Hobart ruled the glass 38-28. Gibbons added 11 points, six boards, and four assists. In addition to that, he turned in a smothering defensive performance that limited Vassar's Johnny Mrlik to 11 points, including an 0-for-5 effort from 3-point land. Mrlik came into the game as the Brewer's leading scorer (17.9 ppg) and the league-leader in 3-pointers made per game (2.6).
 
Statesmen junior Connor Rehbaum added 14 points and seven boards and junior Trey Blanding added 10 points.
 
Hobart shot 44 percent from the floor, including 33 percent from beyond the arc, and 75 percent at the line.
 
Junior forward Alex Snyder led Vassar with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Brewers, who began the weekend first in the Liberty League in field goal percentage (.481) and 3-point shooting (.397), shot 43 percent from the floor and went 1-of-12 from deep (8.3%).
 
Hobart scored the first seven points of the game and dominated the first half with plenty of offensive touches for Bonney. He secured his 17th double-double with more than four minutes remaining in the first half. The Statesmen led by as many 14 before carrying a 31-22 lead into halftime. Bonney had 12 points and 11 rebounds at the break.
 
Vassar which never led, forged the game's only tie with a 14-5 run to start the second half, pulling even at 36-all at the 13:18 mark. Mrlik notched six points during the run. The Brewers were able slow down Bonney by sagging off of every other Statesman. Hobart struggled to get shots to fall against the defense at first, but following Mrlik's game-tying layup, Blanding knocked down a jumper that was followed by a layup for Bonney and a jumper for senior Andrew Hoy for a 42-36 Hobart advantage with 10:37 remaining.
 
The Statesmen kept the Brewers at arm's length for about four minutes before taking control. Leading by just four with 6:56 to go, Bonney scored six straight points, draining a trey to start the run and converting an old fashion 3-point play a short while later for a 10-point lead. The straw that broke the Brewers' back was a sequence of plays that began with a blocked Vassar shot by Blanding that led to a breakaway dunk for Gibbons.
 
The victory gives the Statesmen a two-game advantage in the loss column over the rest of the conference with three games remaining in the regular season.
 
Hobart will host Clarkson at 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 14 for its next contest, while Vassar will return home to take on Skidmore also at 8 p.m. next Friday.