Saratoga Springs, N.Y.—Junior guard Jeff Altimar (Medfield, Mass./Medfield) scored 26 points on 8-11 shooting to lead the Skidmore College men's basketball team to a 77-62 Liberty League win over Hobart College, Friday night at the Sports and Recreation Center.

The Thoroughbreds are 9-4 and 2-0 in league play.  The Statesmen fall to 7-6 and 0-2. 

Except for an early 4-3 Hobart lead, Skidmore led the entire way.  The Thoroughbreds outscored the Statesmen 23-11 over the final six minutes of the first half to take a 45-27 lead into the break.  Gerard O'Shea (West Sand Lake, N.Y./Averill Park) scored seven points during the run.  Altimar scored 15 of his 26 in the first half, while Sakhile Sithole (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) scored 10 of his 11 points in the first half. 

Skidmore led by as many as 20 in the second half.  Hobart's Greg Stern (Jamesville, N.Y.) hit a consecutive threes to get Hobart to within 13, 60-47 with 11:41 to play, but that was a close as the Statesmen would get.

In addition to his 26 points, Altimar contributed three assists, a block, and a steal.  O'Shea finished with nine points and six assists, while Sithole had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Rezin Davis (Hughesville, Pa.) led Hobart with 16 points off the bench.  Stern finished with 11, all in the second half. 

Skidmore shot 50.9 percent from the floor, while the Statesmen shot 29 percent in the first half and 34.9 percent for the game.  The Thoroughbreds scored 16 points off 19 Hobart turnovers.

Skidmore will host Hamilton on Saturday at 4 p.m., while Hobart travels to Union.

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Newspaper Box Score

Hobart vs Skidmore College

1/15/10 8 pm at Sports&Rec Center, Saratoga Springs, NY

At Sports&Rec Center, Saratoga Springs, NY

SKIDMORE COLLEGE 77, HOBART 62

HOBART (7-6, 0-2 Liberty)

Rezin Davis 6-9 1-1 16; Greg Stern 3-5 2-3 11; Tim Llewellyn 4-6 0-0 10;

Mark Bruce 4-19 0-0 8; Stefan Thompson 1-4 4-4 6; Sean Peer 1-4 2-4 4; Marc

Bertucci 2-9 0-1 4; Michael Barlow 1-1 0-0 3; Josh Kalenderian 0-0 0-0 0;

Brian Burbank 0-2 0-0 0; Sean McHugh 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 22-63 9-13 62.

SKIDMORE COLLEGE (9-4, 2-0)

Jeff Altimar 8-11 5-6 26; Sakhile Sithole 4-10 3-4 11; Gerard O'Shea 2-4 4-6

9; Terron Victoria 4-10 0-2 8; Brian Lowry 4-6 0-0 8; John Mantas 1-2 2-2 5;

Raoul Oloa 2-4 0-0 4; Jon Douglas 2-4 0-0 4; Kevin Dahill 1-1 0-0 2; Melvis

Langyintuo 0-3 0-2 0; Kyle Clark 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-55 14-22 77.

Hobart........................   27   35  -   62

Skidmore College..............   45   32  -   77

3-point goals--Hobart 9-19 (Greg Stern 3-5; Rezin Davis 3-5; Tim Llewellyn

2-3; Michael Barlow 1-1; Sean McHugh 0-3; Stefan Thompson 0-1; Mark Bruce

0-1), Skidmore College 7-15 (Jeff Altimar 5-7; Gerard O'Shea 1-2; John

Mantas 1-2; Raoul Oloa 0-1; Jon Douglas 0-1; Melvis Langyintuo 0-1; Terron

Victoria 0-1). Fouled out--Hobart-Tim Llewellyn, Skidmore College-None.

Rebounds--Hobart 44 (Sean Peer 10), Skidmore College 31 (Sakhile Sithole 7).

Assists--Hobart 13 (Stefan Thompson 4), Skidmore College 13 (Gerard O'Shea

6). Total fouls--Hobart 18, Skidmore College 19. Technical fouls--Hobart-Tim

Llewellyn, Skidmore College-None. A-340