Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (February 6, 200) -- Defensively, the Vassar men's basketball team did everything it had to do in order to avenge an earlier season loss to Hobart Friday night at the Athletics & Fitness Center. The Brewers held the Statesmen to 29 percent shooting from the floor with only 18 total field goals and five from three-point distance. But two of those three-pointers came back-to-back from Hobart's sophomore forward Adam Salzmann (Connelly, NY/Kingston) in the final 3:08 of the game, leading Hobart to a grind-it-out 51-48 victory over the Brewers.

The loss drops Vassar to 7-12 and 2-6 in the Liberty League, while Hobart keeps in the league playoff picture with a 7-12, 4-4 record. Vassar will host Hamilton on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. while Hobart travels to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for a 4:00 p.m. game on Saturday.

Salzmann delivered both of his key three-point blows from exactly the same spot along the left baseline within one minute of each other. The first came at 3:08 and the Brewers holding a 48-43 lead following a put back layup by freshman forward David de la Torre (Bronxville, NY/Bronxville) following a miss by senior forward Joe Davis (East Amherst, NY/St. Joseph's Institute). Salzmann then canned another three-pointer, a decisive blow, with 2:11 remaining, pushing the Statesmen ahead 49-48, a lead they were able to protect.

Vassar senior guard Brian Butterworth (Hamilton, NY/Hamilton-Wenham) missed a three-pointer with seven seconds remaining and the Brewers trailing 49-48. His attempt was long and off to the right, prohibiting the Brewers from surging ahead 51-49. Hobart's Salzmann, who was held to only three points at halftime, finished with 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. He made two free throws in the final five seconds for his teams final two points in the 51-48 victory.

Following a 45 point scoring effort against Skidmore the previous weekend, the Brewers continued to sruggle offensively, shooting only 27 percent for the game. Vassar connected on only 5 of 29 field goal attempts in the second half and had only 16 for the entire game. Seven of those field goals -– four of them from three-point range -- came from senior forward Matt Nunn(Lower Gwynedd, PA/Abington Friends) who finished with a game-high 22 points. A depleted Vassar bench was held scoreless and Nunn was aided by nine points and eight rebounds from Davis.

Playing gritty basketball in the first half, the Brewers led 28-24 at intermission. Vassar's largest lead, seven points (26-19) came off a Nunn layup, but Hobart inched its way back into the contest with free throws and aptly timed jumpers.

The Brewers were able to hang onto precarious one-and-two point leads the majority of the second half. Two free throws by Hobart's sophomore guard Rob Estep (York, PA/West York) gave the Statesmen their largest lead of the second half, 36-33, with 12:43 to play. Vassar and Hobart went back-and-forth over the next six minutes, with a Nunn 3-pointer pushing the Brewers ahead 42-40 with 7:55 to play. A couple free throws by Estep with 6:44 to play tied the game at 42-42. Vassar's modest 6-1 run over the next 3:30, one that ended with De de la Torre's layup, tilted the game 48-43 in Vassar's favor. It was a margin, however, that the Brewers would relinquish.

Hobart's first-year forward Matt Pebole (Little Silver, NJ/Red Bank) had 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field. Estep had 13 points.