The University of Rochester men's basketball team got back to its winning ways on Tuesday night, defeating visiting Hobart College 80-57 at the Louis Alexander Palestra.
Rochester (4-2) broke open a close game by clamping down defensively, holding the Statesmen (3-3) two baskets and two free throws over the final 11 minutes of the game. UR in that span combined to score 30 points in that span, leading to the 23-point win.
Brian Amabilino Perez scored 23 points and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds for his first career double-double to lead Rochester. He was 5-of-10 shooting from the floor and was a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line, 11 of which came in the second half.
Dan Masino, a UR graduate student who attended Hobart the last four years, finished with 13 points and four steals against his former team. Mitchell Kershner added 12 points off the bench while C.J. Amsellem had 11 points and five assists.
Hoabrt was led by Patrick Walker who had 11 points. Jackson Meshanic had ten points and seven boards while Aidan Rodgers also scored ten.
After trailing 9-7 in the early going, Rochester rattled off a 12-2 run to gain an eight point lead with 11:53 to go in the first half.
The Statesmen got as close as five in the final two minutes of the first period, but UR scored the final five points, including a Ross Gang coast-to-coast layup and one to beat the buzzer, to head to the locker room up ten, 39-29.
Hobart came out of the locker room on a mission and scored the first 12 points of the second half to take a 41-39 lead. Meshanic scored seven points in the run, while Rochester sank a triple and Walker added two free throws.
Kershner stopped the run with a layup and the game stayed within a few points for the next several minutes.
After Ryan Lucey hit a 3-pointer to make the score 50-all with 11:22 on the clock, Rochester switched to a 2-3 zone defense which stymied the Statesmen.
UR scored the next six points, four by Gang and two by Kekoapookela McArdle to take a 56-50 lead, before Jack Lesure notched two free throws for Hobart.
After the free throws, Rochester scored 17 straight points to surge ahead by 21 with just 2:31 remaining. During the stretch, UR was 4-for-5 shooting with Kershner and Amsellem each sinking a 3-pointer. The offense inside ran through Amabilino Perez who had nine points in the run, including seven free throws.