Aidan Rodgers made a serious bid for a triple double at Ithaca College this afternoon, but it wasn’t enough to lift Hobart College to victory. The host Bombers never trailed on their way to a 91-85 Liberty League men’s basketball victory this afternoon. He finished the game with season-highs of 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Rodgers led Hobart’s scoring efforts, making 6-of-11 from the floor with four 3-pointers and 5-of-8 at the free throw line. His eight boards were second on the team to Jackson Meshanic, who posted a double-double on 19 points and 10 boards. Rodgers’ seven assists are the most by a Statesman since Tucker Lescoe ’20 had nine against Ursinus on Jan. 4, 2020. Ryan Lucey and Patrick Walker also reached double digits in the scoring column with 15 and 13 points, respectively.
Playing for the first time in 35 days, the Statesmen shot just 33% from the floor in the first half, but shot considerably better after halftime, scoring at a 53% clip in the second half.
Ithaca had five players produce double figures led by Luka Radovich’s game-highs of 22 points and 16 boards. Skylar Sinon netted 17 points, five assists and four steals. George Sikoryak III, Liam Spellman and Jack Stern chipped in 14, 10 and 10 points, respectively.
Ithaca began the day on a 10-1 run, scoring the game’s first six points. Sinon and Radovich powered the surge with the former producing six points and the latter netting four. Rodgers made Hobart’s first field goal of the game, connecting from beyond the arc, but Spellman countered with back-to-back triples to give Ithaca a 16-4 lead.
The Bombers (5-4, 2-1) led by as many as 19 in the first half, but Hobart outscored Ithaca 19-10 over the final seven minutes of the half to go into the break trailing 45-35.
In the second half, the Bombers again stretched their to as many as 19, but again the Statesmen rallied. Down 83-64, Walker kick-started a 14-2 run with a 3-pointer and capped it off with a layup assisted by Rodgers that made it a 85-78 game with just under two minutes remaining. Hobart continued to close the gap, getting within five on Rodgers’ 3-pointer with 11 seconds left, but the Statesmen ran out of time.
Hobart (3-7, 0-3) will return to Bristol Gym for the first time since Nov. 20, 2021, when the Statesmen host Skidmore (5-3, 1-1) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 11.
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