SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Hobart College outscored Union College by 19 points in the second half to deal the Garnet Chargers their first defeat of the season in the Statesmen's 81-66 victory on Friday night at Viniar Athletic Center.
 
Senior Connor Cepiel matched his career high with a team-leading 11 points and sophomore Aren Cummings added 10 points and five rebounds for Union (5-1, 0-1 Liberty League), which saw its season-opening five-game winning streak come to an end. Sophomore Christian Dufort chipped in eight points and eight rebounds while first-year Jack Plesser added six points and eight caroms as well.
 
Hobart (5-0, 1-0 Liberty League) had only six players score on the evening but four reached double figures, led by a game-high 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting and eight rebounds from Carter Meshanic. Aidan Rodgers and Isaiah Washington both netted 17 points and Pat Healy chipped in 15 for the visitors.
 
Cepiel had a red-hot first half for the home team, netting 11 points in 14 minutes to lead all scorers at the break. Eight teammates had at least one bucket as well, as the home team shot 51.6 percent (16 of 31) from the field take a 39-35 lead into the half.
 
The Statesmen started the contest on a 10-2 run thanks to six points from Meshanic, but Union battled back to take a 23-15 lead thanks to a 16-0 run over the span of 5:34. Cepiel had five points and five others had one basket each during the stretch, which was capped by a layup from sophomore Lemar Fulmore Jr. with 9:02 on the clock. The Garnet Chargers led by as many as 11 points after a layup by Cummings capped a brief 7-0 run and put the home team up 32-21 with 4:58 remaining, but the Statesmen closed the frame on an 11-5 stint to get within four at the break.
 
Following a layup by senior Edward Baptiste to start the second half, Hobart came back with 16 of the next 21 points to take back the lead at 51-46 with eight minutes gone by. A three-point play from first-year Brendan Reid got Union back within a possession; however, the Statesmen went on another 16-5 run to bust open a 67-54 lead with six minutes left, hitting 7-of-9 shots from the field to build out their advantage. The Garnet Chargers got within nine points on three occasions, but could get no closer the rest of the way.
 
After a hot-shooting first half, Union shot 32.4 percent (11 of 34) from the field in the second half, including a 2-of-12 mark from long range, to finish the game at 41.5 percent. Hobart shot 51.4 percent (19 of 37) in the second stanza to end the day at 47.1 percent (33 of 70) from the field.
 
Union will return to conference play tomorrow with a 4 p.m. matchup against Rochester Institute of Technology at Viniar Athletic Center.