SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Junior guard Jack Morrow and sophomore guard Jack Byrne each drained five 3-pointers, as the Skidmore College men's basketball team defeated Castleton 77-61 in the season opener for both teams on Tuesday at the Williamson Sports Center.
 
Byrne led all Thoroughbred scorers with a career-high 19 points, going 7-for-11 from the field and 5-for-9 from beyond the arc. Morrow finished with 17 points, going 5-for-10 from the line, adding four assists. Senior guard Royce Paris added 15 points and a career-high six steals, while senior guard Aldin Medunjanin scored 13 points, adding eight assists and five rebounds.
 
Castleton's Chad Copeland led all scorers with 22 points on 7-for-14 shooting, adding three rebounds, while Pavin Parrish scored 14 points.
 
The Thoroughbreds went 15-for-32 from beyond the arc, including 56.3 percent (9-for-16) in the first half. They shot 51 percent from the field, while Castleton shot 46 percent. The Spartans out-rebounded the Thoroughbreds 30-24, while the Thoroughbreds caused 14 Castleton turnovers.

"I was really pleased with our energy tonight," said Skidmore College men's basketball head coach Joe Burke. "Defensively we competed and got better as the game went along.  They try and wear you out with their offense but I thought our guys hung in there and stayed disciplined. I was proud of how we took what the defense gave us and the guys played really unselfish basketball.  Anytime you get 26 field goals on 21 assists I think you have to be pleased."
 
Early in the contest with the Thoroughbreds trailing 4-3, a steal by Paris led to a transition 3-pointer by Morrow in the corner off a Medunjanin feed. That basket started a 15-2 run over 5:13 of play, taking a big lead that the Thoroughbreds would not relinquish. A pair of free throws by sophomore guard Edvinas Rupkus gave the Thoroughbreds its largest lead of the first half at 23-10.
 
Castleton slowly chipped away, cutting the lead down to seven at 38-31, on a Copeland basket with 1:21 to go in the half. With time ticking down in the first half, Castleton's Jordan Nelson found Parrish on the wing, just beneath the 3-point line, his shot beating the buzzer and going in to enter the half down 43-33.
 
The Thoroughbreds came out strong in the second half, starting out with a back-breaking 12-2 run, capped off by a shot clock beating three from Medunjanin from about 30 feet and a Paris 3-pointer that pushed the lead to 55-35. Byrne's fifth trey with 7:26 to go in regulation gave Skidmore its biggest lead of the game at 70-49. The Thoroughbreds kept up the half court pressure, forcing seven steals in the second half as they were able to hold on to the 16-point victory.
 
The Thoroughbreds will hit the road, heading to Owings Mills, Md. to compete in the D3Hoops.com Hoopsville Classic. Skidmore will begin the two-day event with a matchup against Randolph-Macon on Friday at 2 p.m.