GENEVA, N.Y. – Junior Zach Johnson set the single-season rebounding record, but it was not enough as the Vassar men's basketball team fell 68-73 to Hobart on Friday evening. The Brewers now stand at 15-7 and 11-5 in the Liberty League. Meanwhile, Hobart moves to 12-12 and 9-8 in the conference. Johnson now has 171 defensive rebounds this season that surpasses the 170 record set by Lawrence Avitabile in 2006-07. 

Vassar took a 7-5 lead following a layup by Zach Johnson and then a floating jump shot by Avni Mustafaj. Hobart's Aidan Rodgers responded with a triple at 16:00 and held a slight lead. First-year Luke Adams cut the Statesmen lead to 12-16 when he drove inside for a contested layup, but Hobart used a 7-0 run to take a 23-12 lead at 8:46. Junior Ethan Ellis finally broke the streak to spur a 9-0 Vassar that was capped off by seven-straight Mustafaj points to make it 21-23.

Hobart held the narrow advantage until Adams netted two consecutive baskets to tie 29-29 at 2:26. He then drained a three-pointer to give Vassar a 32-29 lead with under two minutes remaining in the half. Mustafaj pushed the Brewers' lead to three, but Hobart's Jackson Meshanic converted two free throws to make it 34-33 at the half.

Hobart opened the second half by scoring the first four points to retake the lead. A Johnson layup at 17:30 tied the game 37-37, and then a 7-0 span comprised of layups by Mustafaj and Johnson and a Kevin McAuliffe triple put the Brewers ahead 44-37. The Statesmen fought their way back, using baskets by Patrick Walker and Hunter Meshanic to put the score at 47-45. David Corrales Marco scored the next four on free throws to give Hobart a two-point lead.

Some back-and-forth baskets followed, and when the game was tied 54-54, a trey by Marco began a 6-0 run. Zev Katz answered with a three, and then Mustafaj scored off a Jack Rothenberg assist. Johnson was able to tie again at 62-62 at 6:22 when he scored inside. Hobart scored the following six points to force at Vassar timeout at 3:09. The Statesmen came out, and Patrick Walker drained a three at 2:11, but Johnson made two layups to keep it a five-point game.

Following a Hobart timeout at 1:23, Johnson stole the ball and converted the layup on the fastbreak to cut the score to 68-71. The Brewers were forced to foul, and Aidan Rodgers sank his free throws with six seconds remaining.

Johnson led the Brewers with 21 points and seven rebounds while recording two steals. Mustafaj scored 17 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Adams matched a career-high by netting 12 points and had a season-best nine rebounds.

Walker led the Statesmen with 21 points, while Rodgers had 13. Meshanic grabbed nine rebounds.

Vassar wraps up the regular season tomorrow at Ithaca at 4 p.m.