Box Score
Geneva, N.Y. – The Skidmore College men's basketball team won a record 17th game, advancing to the Liberty League Championship game for the first time in program history with a 76-69 win over Rensselaer, Friday night at Hobart.
The Thoroughbreds improve to 17-9, while the Engineers fall to 17-8.
The Thoroughbreds struggled early in the first half, falling behind 26-13 at the 10:53 mark, but a pair of threes from
Terron Victoria (Albany, N.Y.) started up 16-0 run to get right back into the game. The Engineers held a 38-34 halftime advantage in a very competitive first half which saw 11 lead changes.
Skidmore scored the first nine points of the half to grab a quick five point advantage, 43-38 and never allowed Rensselaer to grab another lead. Every time it appeared the Engineers were starting to gain momentum, the Thoroughbreds were able to come up with a big shot and retain the lead and not allow Rennselaer to get closer than within three over the final 10:11. Skidmore shot 51.9% (14-27) from the floor in the second half and hit clutch free throws down the stretch to secure the 76-69 win and a berth in the Liberty League Championship.
Travis Jones was the high scorer for Engineers with 13 points, while Andrew Darst and Matt Pooley chipped in with 11 and 10, respectively.
"Give credit to our players, we didn't set many goals at the beginning of the year, we just wanted to be playing our best basketball in February" said Skidmore head coach Joe Burke. "I think we are doing that right now. That was a quality win against a very good opponent.
"We always talk about our half court defense and how we want that to be our identity. We just feel that if we can guard teams in the half court we can win allot of basketball games. I thought we carried that attitude into the game tonight, especially in the second half.
"Tomorrow is a great opportunity. Its a great chance for us to take another step forward as a program."
Both teams took advantage of the free throws with Rensselaer finishing a perfect 22-for-22 and the Thoroughbreds hitting 19-of-24 from the line.
Skidmore
will face the winner of the second semifinal between Hamilton and Hobart on Saturday at 3 p.m. for a shot at the program's first NCAA Tournament berth.
Newspaper Box Score
Skidmore vs RPI
02-25-11 6 p.m. at Geneva, N.Y.; Bristol Gym
At Geneva, N.Y.; Bristol Gym
SKIDMORE 76, RPI 69
SKIDMORE (17-9)
Terron Victoria 7-14 0-1 17; Gerard O'Shea 4-9 2-2 12; Melvis Langyintuo
5-13 1-2 11; Kyle Clark 4-6 3-6 11; Jeff Altimar 1-4 7-7 9; Brian Lowry 1-5
2-2 5; John Mantas 1-5 2-2 5; Kevin Dahill 1-3 2-2 4; Sakhile Sithole 1-3
0-0 2; Quenten Howard 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-62 19-24 76.
RPI (17-8)
Travis Jones 6-12 0-0 13; Andrew Darst 3-6 3-3 11; Matthew Pooley 2-6 6-6
10; Joe Gibbons 3-7 3-3 9; Jeremy Moylan 2-2 4-4 8; Jeremy Bull 3-5 2-2 8;
DJ Blakemore 1-9 4-4 6; Jamie Zajac 1-3 0-0 2; Daniel Martin 1-3 0-0 2; Mike
Brion 0-5 0-0 0; Matt Dixon 0-1 0-0 0; Pat Harrington 0-0 0-0 0. Totals
22-59 22-22 69.
Skidmore...................... 34 42 - 76
RPI........................... 38 31 - 69
3-point goals--Skidmore 7-25 (Terron Victoria 3-7; Gerard O'Shea 2-5; John
Mantas 1-2; Brian Lowry 1-3; Jeff Altimar 0-2; Kyle Clark 0-1; Melvis
Langyintuo 0-5), RPI 3-15 (Andrew Darst 2-3; Travis Jones 1-5; Jeremy Bull
0-1; DJ Blakemore 0-2; Mike Brion 0-3; Matthew Pooley 0-1). Fouled
out--Skidmore-None, RPI-None. Rebounds--Skidmore 39 (Kyle Clark 9; Melvis
Langyintuo 9), RPI 38 (Travis Jones 8). Assists--Skidmore 8 (Kyle Clark 4),
RPI 6 (DJ Blakemore 2). Total fouls--Skidmore 19, RPI 18. Technical
fouls--Skidmore-None, RPI-None. A-200
Liberty League Tournament Semifinal
