Saratoga Springs, N.Y.-- The Skidmore College men's closed out the regular season with an 83-63 win over Clarkson University, Saturday at the Williamson Sports Center.

The playoff bound Thoroughbreds tied a program win record with 16, heading into next week's Liberty League tournament with a 16-9 overall and 10-4 league record. The Golden Knights end the season 12-13 and 4-10.

Skidmore will be seeded third in the four team tournament and face second seed Rensselaer on Friday, Feb. 25 at Hobart. The Statesmen are the first seed and will play number four Hamilton. The winners play on Saturday for the league's automatic NCAA Division III tournament bid.

Clarkson took the early lead 16-6 over the opening six minutes. Skidmore regrouped and used a 15-2 run to go on top 21-18 with 8:31 to play. The Thoroughbreds outscored the Golden Knights 23-9 over the rest of the half to open a 17-point lead, 44-27.

The outcome was never in doubt in the second with Skidmore leading by as many as 27.

Gerard O'Shea (West Sand Lake, N.Y./Averill Park) and Brian Lowry (West Hartford, Conn./St. George's) finished with 14 points each for the Thoroughbreds. Lowry came off the bench to key the first half run, scoring all 14 of his points on 4-6 from three-point range.

Also for Skidmore, Melvis Langyintuo (Tamale, Ghana/Lawrenceville) scored 12 points and had a team-high eight rebounds. Making his final home start, senior Jeff Altimar (Medfield, Mass./Medfield) contributed nine points.

Felix Llanos (Queens, N.Y./Holy Cross) led four Clarkson players in double figures with 19 points.

The Thoroughbred bench outscored the Golden Knights 39-14.

"I want to start by thanking the fans," said Skidmore coach Joe Burke. "I thought the atmosphere in the building was electric all weekend. Not only does that kind of environment make it difficult for opponents but our players feed off the passion from the people in the stands.

"We started a little slow but once we found our stride we were able to get into a rhythm on both ends. Again, we had great balance which has been key to this teams success. We are playing good basketball and are excited for the playoffs next weekend.

"Last but certainly not least I want to thank Jeff Altimar and his parents for four great years. Jeff has a number of individual accomplishments but the one I am sure he is most proud of is how this program has grown during his time here."

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Newspaper Box Score
Clarkson University vs Skidmore College
2/19/11 4 pm at Williamson Center, Saratoga Springs, NY
At Williamson Center, Saratoga Springs, NY
SKIDMORE COLLEGE 83, CLARKSON UNIVERSITY 63
CLARKSON UNIVERSITY (12-13,4-10)
Felix Llanos 6-14 4-5 19; Rey Jefferson 4-11 2-2 14; Shawn Lasalita 4-7 2-3
11; Jonathan Hood 3-12 5-8 11; Nate Uline 1-5 3-4 5; Marques Charlton 1-5
0-0 3; David Cieri 0-0 0-0 0; Pat Mott 0-1 0-0 0; Nick Grzymala 0-0 0-0 0;
Nik Marquis 0-2 0-0 0; Nigel Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0; Tyler Barron 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 19-58 16-22 63.
SKIDMORE COLLEGE (16-9,10-4Liberty)
Brian Lowry 5-9 0-0 14; Gerard O'Shea 5-9 1-1 14; Melvis Langyintuo 2-5 6-6
12; Jeff Altimar 2-8 3-4 9; Raoul Oloa 2-2 2-4 6; Sakhile Sithole 3-6 0-0 6;
Quenten Howard 2-3 1-2 5; Kyle Clark 2-4 1-2 5; Kevin Dahill 2-3 0-0 4; John
Mantas 1-2 2-2 4; Terron Victoria 2-5 0-0 4; Brian Moore 0-3 0-0 0; Eli
Johnston 0-3 0-0 0; Perun Kovacevic 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 28-63 16-22 83.
Clarkson University........... 27 36 - 63
Skidmore College.............. 44 39 - 83
3-point goals--Clarkson University 9-27 (Rey Jefferson 4-10; Felix Llanos
3-9; Marques Charlton 1-1; Shawn Lasalita 1-2; Pat Mott 0-1; Nik Marquis
0-2; Tyler Barron 0-1; Jonathan Hood 0-1), Skidmore College 11-30 (Brian
Lowry 4-7; Gerard O'Shea 3-4; Jeff Altimar 2-7; Melvis Langyintuo 2-4; John
Mantas 0-1; Terron Victoria 0-2; Brian Moore 0-2; Eli Johnston 0-2; Sakhile
Sithole 0-1). Fouled out--Clarkson University-Nate Uline, Skidmore
College-None. Rebounds--Clarkson University 34 (Jonathan Hood 7), Skidmore
College 47 (Melvis Langyintuo 8). Assists--Clarkson University 10 (Rey
Jefferson 3), Skidmore College 18 (John Mantas 5). Total fouls--Clarkson
University 17, Skidmore College 20. Technical fouls--Clarkson
University-Nate Uline, Skidmore College-None. A-930