Box Score

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.-- Liberty League leader Hobart College saw a 28-point lead dwindle to five, but held on for a 75-66 men's basketball win over Skidmore College Saturday at the Williamson Sports Center.

The Thoroughbreds fall to 7-3 in league play and 13-8 overall, while the Statesmen improve to 8-1 and 16-4.

Skidmore struggled out of the gate, hitting only one of its first 20 shots to trail 33-5 with 2:51 to play in the first half. The Thoroughbreds finished the half 5-31 from the floor and down 40-15.

The second half was a different story, with Skidmore opening the stanza with a quick 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 13, 40-27 with 16:11 to play. Melvis Langyintuo opened the run with a field goal, Terron Victoria added a five points and Jeff Altimar hit a three.

Hobart kept the lead in the teens, until the Thoroughbreds were able to use a late 11-3 run to pull within five 67-62 with 1:33 left. Victoria had six of the 11 points in the run. The Statesmen went 8-10 from the line over the final 1:12 to preserve the win.

Langyintuo finished with a double/double of 14 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three blocks and three steals. Victoria had 11 points and a pair of steals, while Altimar scored 10 points. Kyle Clark had five assists, nine points, and eight rebounds.

Matt Pebole led Hobart with 21 points, while Stefan Thompson went 7-8 from the line to finish with 20 points.

"First off, you have to give credit to Hobart," commented Skidmore coach Joe Burke.  "They came in here swinging and played really good basketball. Offensively it was just one of those nights. We just couldn't find the bottom of the net. When that happens you need to rely on you defense. Unfortunately, I thought we let our inability to score early effect us on the other end.

"I am proud of our effort in the second half but we are not interested in moral victories. That being said, this group will bounce back. We are a confident team and we will get back to work this week and get ready for a tough road weekend. We are right in the thick of this and there is a lot of basketball left."

Skidmore is at Rensselaer on Friday, while the Statesmen are Hamilton on Tuesday.

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Newspaper Box Score
Hobart vs Skidmore College
2/5/11 4:15 pm at Williamson Center, Saratoga Springs, NY
At Williamson Center, Saratoga Springs, NY
HOBART 75, SKIDMORE COLLEGE 66
HOBART (16-4,8-1 Liberty)
Matt Pebole 8-17 1-4 21; Stefan Thompson 6-17 7-8 20; Adam Salzmann 3-5 3-4
10; Greg Stern 3-5 0-0 9; Richie Bonney 0-1 8-10 8; Tim Llewellyn 2-8 0-0 4;
Mark Bruce 1-4 1-2 3; Sean Peer 0-0 0-0 0; Trevor Short 0-2 0-0 0; Brian
Burbank 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-59 20-28 75.
SKIDMORE COLLEGE (13-8,7-3)
Melvis Langyintuo 6-8 1-2 14; Terron Victoria 4-13 2-3 11; Jeff Altimar 4-7
0-0 10; Brian Lowry 3-8 1-1 9; Kyle Clark 3-8 3-5 9; Gerard O'Shea 1-12 4-10
7; John Mantas 2-7 0-0 5; Quenten Howard 0-2 1-2 1; Kevin Dahill 0-0 0-0 0;
Perun Kovacevic 0-0 0-0 0; Raoul Oloa 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-66 12-23 66.
Hobart........................ 40 35 - 75
Skidmore College.............. 15 51 - 66
3-point goals--Hobart 9-18 (Matt Pebole 4-4; Greg Stern 3-4; Adam Salzmann
1-2; Stefan Thompson 1-5; Tim Llewellyn 0-3), Skidmore College 8-23 (Jeff
Altimar 2-4; Brian Lowry 2-5; Melvis Langyintuo 1-2; Terron Victoria 1-4;
Gerard O'Shea 1-3; John Mantas 1-3; Kyle Clark 0-2). Fouled
out--Hobart-None, Skidmore College-None. Rebounds--Hobart 52 (Mark Bruce 9),
Skidmore College 37 (Melvis Langyintuo 10). Assists--Hobart 12 (Tim
Llewellyn 3), Skidmore College 12 (Kyle Clark 5). Total fouls--Hobart 19,
Skidmore College 18. Technical fouls--Hobart-None, Skidmore College-None.
A-410