Box Score SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.-- Skidmore freshman Martin Bedulskij made the most of his first collegiate start, scoring a game-high 19 points to lead the Thoroughbreds to a 78-66 Liberty League win over RIT, Friday night at the Williamson Center.
 
Skidmore is 4-5 overall and 1-0 in league play. The Tigers have lost four straight to fall to 5-4 and 0-1.
 
Bedulskij was one of four Thoroughbreds in double figures.  Starter Erik Sanders had 11 points and nine rebounds, while Royce Paris and Isaac Carp came off the bench to score 16 and 12 respectively. 
 
Connor Merrill continues to close in on the 1000-point career mark with eight points, giving him 986 career points.  He also had eight rebounds, three blocks, and four assists.
 
A.J. Horde and Joe Stortini scored 17 points each for RIT. Horde also contributed four assists and a pair of steals.
 
The first half saw seven lead changes and six ties. Skidmore outscored the Tigers 11-5 over the final 6:08 of the half to take a 33-27 lead into the locker room. 
 
The Thoroughbreds scored first six points of the second half to open a 39-27 lead. RIT got to within five, 43-38 with 14:04 to play on a Jay Rosser layup, but Skidmore responded with 24-5 run over the next 5:37 to put the game away.   Carp hit three three-pointers, while Bedulskij added seven points in the run. 
 
Carp connected on all four of his three point attempts for the game.
 
The Thoroughbreds were 28-53 (52.8%) from the floor, while the Tigers were 26-69 (37.7%).   Skidmore scored 17 points off 13 RIT turnovers.
 
"I'm pleased with the focus and energy tonight," said Skidmore coach Joe Burke. "RIT is a very good basketball team so that is a good and much needed win for us.  We have a couple guys out of the mix tonight and I thought we had some guys really step up. This team can win in a variety of ways and tonight was a good example of it.
 
"We can enjoy this for a couple hours and then we need to get ready for Vassar. They are a good, experienced ball club and were picked to win the league for a reason. Should be a fun game tomorrow."
 
Skidmore will host Vassar at 4 p.m., while RIT travels to Rensselaer for a 4 p.m. game.