ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Skidmore College men's basketball team completed its weekend Liberty League sweep with a 77-71 win over RIT, Saturday afternoon at Clark Gym
 
The win was the 100^th for Thoroughbred head coach Joe Burke. In his sixth season, Burke is 100-55 with three Liberty League titles and three NCAA tournament appearances.
 
Skidmore moves to within a game of league leading St. Lawrence with a 7-4 league and 12-7o overall record. The teams will square off Tuesday night at 8 p.m. in Canton.  RIT is 10-9 and 6-4.
 
Edvinas Rupkus led Skidmore with 20 points, five assists, five steals, and seven rebounds.  Erik Sanders shipped in 17 points. Jack Byrne added 15 points off the bench for the Thoroughbreds who shot 41.3 percent from the floor. Chase Ta had a team-high six assists to go along with eight points.

 AJ Horde led RIT with 20 points, four rebounds and two steals. Kamron Davis added 12 points and eight rebounds. 

After leading 33-30 at the half, Skidmore opened up a 42-35 lead early in the second on a dunk by Sanders off an assist from Chase Ta. A quick 5-0 burst by the Tigers tied the score at 42-42. After a Jack Byrne three gave the Thoroughbreds a 43-45 lead, Horde drained a deep three on the Tigers next possession giving RIT a 46-45 lead.

Skidmore would answer right back, taking a 52-46 lead with 12:28 to play in the second half on a layup by Marcus Jackson. Another 7-0 spurt by the Tigers gave RIT a 53-52 lead on a pair of Lopez free throws. Wyatt Smith gave RIT a 58-54 lead with 8:16 to play in his jumper.

Trailing 65-64 with 5:05 to play, Skidmore out scored RIT 13-6 over the final five minutes to hang on for the six-point win. Rupkus had six points in the run, while Sanders had four.

COACH BURKE:
I think this team proved this weekend that they are extremely capable. We did not play great but we made winning plays and competed with championship emotion. This is such a difficult road trip, not only because of the travel but I have great respect for how good both teams are. We are fortunate to come away with two wins.

The exciting part is that we have another challenge on Tuesday upat St Lawrence. We need to get home and keep getting better because as a team we still have plenty of room to improve.