ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. – The Skidmore College men's basketball team rallied from a nine-point deficit in the second half, built an eight-point lead just over four minutes left, then hung on down the stretch to edge Bard College, 70-68, in a Liberty League game on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Thoroughbreds improved to 8-6 overall, 3-3 in conference play. Bard fell to 6-9, 3-3.
 
Bard led for almost all of the first half on the strength of 6-for-10 shooting from beyond the three-point line, and the lead got as big as 12 with just over three minutes left in the half. Skidmore cut the deficit to 41-34 by halftime, in spite of going 0-for-11 on three-pointers in the first 20 minutes.
 
The challenge became more daunting for Skidmore in the first minute of the second half, when freshman Edvinas Rupkus sat down with four fouls. But the Thoroughbreds put together a 17-5 run over a five-minute stretch, and they led, 64-56, with 4:16 left.
 
A layup from Rupkus, who re-entered the game in the final minute, gave Skidmore a 70-64 lead with 47 seconds left. Due to some missed foul shots and turnover, Bard trailed 70-68 with 11 seconds left and had the ball. But Skidmore was able to stop a drive attempt by Bard's Emmanuel Rainey with a double team, the ball got loose, and players were scrambling on the floor as the buzzer sounded.
 
Four players finished in double figures for Skidmore, led by Erik Sanders, who had 18 points and five rebounds. Jack Byrne had 15 – 11 in the second half – Royce Paris had 13, and Chase Ta added 10.
 
Rainey scored 20 points to lead Bard.
 
Up next for Skidmore is a home game against Clarkson on Tuesday night.

COACH BURKE:
I thought we really competed tonight. Bard is a very good team and to win in their building is tough. I was once again proud of how the guys responded. Three weekends in a row we had disappointing efforts on Friday but responded the next day. It says something about your team but it's not a formula for success.  We need to keep searching for consistency so that we hit our stride at the right time.