GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart College basketball team opened the 2017-18 season with an 87-75 win over No. 19 St. John Fisher College in Bristol Gym tonight. First-year guard Dan Masino led four Statesmen in double figures with 19 points.
 
Masino was impressive in Hobart debut, leading all scorers with 13 points at halftime. He was 8-of-11 shooting for the night with a pair of 3-pointers. Junior guard Colin Dougherty added 17 points, a game-high six assists, and three steals. Sophomore guard Sam Allen chipped in 12 points and junior guard Jamal Lucas contributed 11 points and four assists. Senior forward Luke Ruddygrabbed a team-high six rebounds to go with nine points.
 
Cardinal sophomore guard Sammy Robinson scored a game-high 20 points. Junior guard Jake Haight added 10 points. Senior guard Tyler English collected a game-high seven rebounds, helping St. John Fisher to a 40-33 advantage on the glass.
 
Hobart (1-0) shot 48 percent from the floor, including 56 percent in the first half. The Statesmen made 13 3-pointers and went 10-of-15 at the free throw line. St. John Fisher (0-1) struggled to match Hobart's hot shooting in the first half, making just 37 percent before the break, but rallied in the second half, knocking down 56 percent of its shots. The Cardinals made just three 3-pointers and were 18-of-26 at the line.
 
The Statesmen took control of the game with a 12-0 run in the middle of the first half. Trailing 16-15, Masino scored five straight points, including a tradition 3-point play to put the home team ahead 20-16. Later in the run, junior forward Matt Walsh and Masino hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 27-16 Hobart lead.
 
Robinson made a jumper to end Fisher's three-minute scoring drought, but Dougherty, Walsh and Masino made consecutive layups to stretch the lead to 33-18.
 
The Cardinals got within nine with about two and a half minutes left in the first half, but Hobart went into the locker room on an 8-1 run for a 48-32 lead.
 
The Statesmen led by as many as 23, taking a 77-54 lead on Ruddy's 3-pointer with about nine minutes left. St. John Fisher responded with an 11-0 run to close the gap to 12, but Dougherty snapped Hobart out of its four-minute funk with a 3-pointer and the Cardinals trailed by at least a dozen from that point on.
 
Hobart will be back in action on Tuesday, Nov. 21, when the Statesmen host No. 16 Rochester. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. St. John Fisher has a quick turnaround, playing Birmingham-Southern on Friday, Nov. 17 in Marietta, Ohio, at 4 p.m.