SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Hobart College's Jackson Meshanic hit an off-balance three-pointer as time expired to give the Statesmen a 77-74 victory over Union College in Liberty League men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Viniar Athletic Center.
 
After Union senior Brian Noone went coast-to-coast to tie the game with 0.8 seconds remaining, Hobart had one last chance to win. After a timeout, Pat Healy hurled the ball three-quarters of the way down the court to Meshanic in front of the Statesmen bench, and he turned and fired a shot off the backboard and in to improbably win the game for Hobart (8-7, 4-3 Liberty League).
 
Meshanic's heroics spoiled a late-game rally that saw Union (2-13, 1-7 Liberty League) come back from six points down with less than a minute remaining. Trailing 73-67, senior Chris Lovisolo hit a three with 38 seconds left to halve the deficit. the home team forced turnovers on the next two possessions and eventually got a Lovisolo layup with 13 seconds left to get within a point.  After Patrick Walker missed a second free throw to give Union life, Noone raced past Hobart defenders and finished in traffic to knot the score with under a second left on the clock.
 
Meshanic led all players with 29 points and 10 rebounds, followed in double figures by Walker with 19 points.
 
Lovisolo had a big game for the home team, netting a career-high 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field. Noone ended the day with 16 points, followed by classmates Mike Manley and Mike Concannon with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
 
The game got off to a frenetic pace at the start, with the teams combining to score on nine of the first 11 possessions as Hobart took an early 11-9 lead. The largest advantage of the half was just five points, coming after a Manley three put the home team up 21-16 at the midway point of the frame. The teams traded the lead down the stretch until Noone scored in the waning seconds to put Union up 30-29 at the break.
 
Hobart led by as many as nine points in the second half, coming after a three from Hunter Meshanic with 10:44 remaining that put the Statesmen up 55-46. But Union hung around and battled back into the contest, only to suffer a heartbreaking ending.
 
Both teams shot the ball very well from the field, with Union finishing the game at 54.5 percent (30 of 55) and Hobart ending up at 53.7 percent (29 of 54). The home team hit two more three pointers than their counterparts, but the Statemen got to the line 20 times and made 12, while the Dutchmen made only nine trips to the charity stripe and converted five.
 
Union will return to action on Friday with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff against Bard College at Viniar Athletic Center.