Box Score

Potsdam, NY – The Skidmore College men's basketball team took care of business Saturday, earning a Liberty League Tournament berth with a 71-57 road win over Clarkson.

The Thoroughbreds knocked Clarkson out of the the tournament and earned the second seed with a 9-5 league and 16-9 overall record.  Top  seed St. Lawrence will host the tournament Feb. 26-27.  Skidmore will play Hobart in the semifinals.

Clarkson jumped out to a 9-2 lead through the first five minutes of the contest, and maintained a seven-point advantage through the first 10 minutes, keeping the high-scoring offense of Skidmore to just seven points in the first quarter of the game. Skidmore was able to stay in the game early thanks to active hands on defense, creating numerous turnovers as the Knights tossed the ball around the perimeter.  An off-balance, desperation 3-pointer fromMelvis Langyintuo went down with four seconds to go in the half to give Skidmore its first lead, edging out the Knights 25-23 at the half.

Skidmore maintained the momentum they gained from the 3-pointer to end the half. Up by just a single point with three minutes expired from the second half, Skidmore went on a 12-3 run over the next three minutes to take a 10-point lead. After Clarkson pulled back to within seven points on a 3-pointer by Rey Jefferson , Skidmore ran off eight more consecutive points to take a 15-point lead. The Knights would get back to within eight points on a couple of occasions, but couldn't put together a sustained run.

Skidmore was able to push its advantage to double figures with five 3-pointers and a 19-for-22 performance from the free throw line. Meanwhile, the Knights struggled to shoot from the outside, making the deficit difficult to overcome. After a 0-for-5 performance in the first half from the perimeter, the Knights shot only 2-for-9 in the second half.

For Skidmore Langyintuo came off the bench for a game-high 13 points in just 21 minutes, while John Mantasalso added 10 points in just 21 minutes off the bench. Gerard O'Shea had 9 points and 6 steals.