Saratoga Springs, N.Y. – The Skidmore College men's basketball team started their 2009-10 campaign with an 83-72 win over Cobleskill Tuesday night at the Sports & Recreation Center.

 

Freshman Sakhile Sithole (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) scored a team-high 17 points off the bench and was one of four Thoroughbreds to score in double figures while sophomore guard Gerard O'Shea (West Sand Lake, N.Y.) had nine points, 10 assists and five steals for Skidmore.

 

The Thoroughbreds took a 5-4 lead just over four minutes into the game and never looked back, extending their lead to as many as 14 points in the first half and forcing 11 first half turnovers to go into halftime with a 41-29 lead.

 

The Fighting Tigers hung tough in the second half and were able to cut the lead to six with 5:55 remaining on a dunk by Damon Franklin, but the Thoroughbreds answered right back when O'Shea found Terron Victoria (Albany, N.Y.) for a 3-pointer. Skidmore would extend the lead back to 11 after Victoria picked up a steal and fed Sithole on the fast break to make it 71-60.

 

Cobleskill wouldn't give up, cutting the lead back to six on a three from Franklin, who scored 20 of his game-high 27 points in the second half. But that's as close as the Fighting Tigers would get as O'Shea would seal the victory with a three-pointer with just 1:14 remaining to put it back to an 11 point lead.

 

Junior Jeff Altimar (Medfield, Mass.) added 12 points while Victoria ended with 11 and sophomore Melvis Langyintuo (Tamale, Ghana) had 10 for Skidmore. Sithole had six rebounds and two blocks to go along with his 17 points in his collegiate debut.

 

Andrei Lucas ended with 18 points and seven rebounds for Cobleskill, while Franklin recorded a double-double, adding 10 rebounds to his 27 points.

 

The Thoroughbreds forced 19 turnovers while committing just six and scored 24 points off turnovers. All 11 Skidmore players who played scored while their bench outscored Cobleskill 38-16.

 

The Thoroughbreds will travel to New York City on November 21, to take part in the four-team NYU Tip-Off Tournament and will play host NYU at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

 

 

 

Cobleskill vs Skidmore College

11/17/10 7 pm at Sports&Rec Center, Saratoga Springs, NY

At Sports&Rec Center, Saratoga Springs, NY

 

SKIDMORE COLLEGE 83, COBLESKILL 72

 

COBLESKILL (0-2)

Damon Franklin 11-20 4-6 27; Andrei Lucas 8-11 1-5 18; Haneef Scott 2-6 2-4

7; Carl Thomas 2-3 3-4 7; Craig Orner 1-5 2-2 5; Michael Hopper 2-4 0-0 4;

Travis Linton 1-3 0-0 2; Marcus Medley 0-2 2-2 2; Damion Longmore 0-3 0-0 0;

Connor Cullen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-58 14-23 72.

 

SKIDMORE COLLEGE (1-0)

Sakhile Sithole 5-8 7-8 17; Jeff Altimar 3-11 4-4 12; Terron Victoria 3-6

4-6 11; Melvis Langyintuo 3-5 1-2 10; Gerard O'Shea 3-5 2-4 9; Jon Douglas

2-8 2-4 8; Kyle Clark 2-4 1-2 5; John Mantas 2-5 0-0 4; Raoul Oloa 1-2 0-0

3; Kevin Dahill 0-0 2-2 2; Brian Lowry 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 25-58 23-32 83.

 

Cobleskill....................   29   43 -   72

Skidmore College..............   41   42 -   83

 

3-point goals--Cobleskill 4-12 (Craig Orner 1-2; Andrei Lucas 1-3; Damon

Franklin 1-3; Haneef Scott 1-2; Marcus Medley 0-1; Connor Cullen 0-1),

Skidmore College 10-29 (Melvis Langyintuo 3-4; Jeff Altimar 2-7; Jon Douglas

2-7; Terron Victoria 1-1; Gerard O'Shea 1-3; Raoul Oloa 1-2; Brian Lowry

0-3; John Mantas 0-1; Sakhile Sithole 0-1). Fouled out--Cobleskill-Damion

Longmore, Skidmore College-Kyle Clark. Rebounds--Cobleskill 47 (Damon

Franklin 10), Skidmore College 28 (Sakhile Sithole 6). Assists--Cobleskill

15 (Andrei Lucas 4; Damon Franklin 4), Skidmore College 19 (Gerard O'Shea

10). Total fouls--Cobleskill 24, Skidmore College 19. Technical

fouls--Cobleskill-None, Skidmore College-None. A-175