SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Sophomore guard Edvinas Rupkus exploded for a career-high 37 points, leading the Skidmore College men's basketball team to a 96-84 victory against The College of New Jersey at the Williamson Sports Center on Monday.
 
The Thoroughbreds improve their record to 4-1 with the win, while the Lions record stands at 3-2.
 
Rupkus was efficient from the field, shooting 11-for-14 from the field, and 13-for-16 from the free throw line. He also added eight rebounds. His 37 points was the highest individual scoring output for a Thoroughbreds player since 2014.
 
Senior guard Aldin Medunjanin added 17 points on just four shots from the field, going a perfect 10-for-10 from the line, and filled the stat sheet, adding eight assists, five rebounds, and three steals. Junior center Marcus Jackson tied a career-best with 12 points on an efficient 6-for-8 shooting. The Thoroughbreds were hot as a team from the field, shooting 64 percent (32-for-50).
 
Forward Bobby Brackett scored 25 points to lead the Lions, notching a double-double with 12 rebounds. Guard Corey Stanford added 24 points, going 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. Fellow guard Eric Murdock Jr. added 12 points and seven assists, as the Lions shot 40.7 percent (24-for-59) from the field.
 
"It was a really good team win today," said Skidmore College men's basketball head coach Joe Burke. "TCNJ is good ball club with really good players and they are well coached. Although we need to tighten up on some things defensively, I thought we competed on that end against some really physical forwards. Offensively, we got some great contributions from a number of guys. I was happy with how we stayed on the attack and really shared the ball."
 
After an even 13:08 of play in the opening half, the Thoroughbreds went on a run to pull away. With a slim 19-18 lead, Medunjanin fed Jack Morrow for a 3-pointer in the corner, then Paris found a cutting Charlie Williams for the layup on the next possession to push the lead to six, at 24-18. After a Lions miss, Chase Ta found Medunjanin for a trey in transition for the nine-point lead.
 
A pair of free throws by Rupkus gave the Thoroughbreds its largest lead of the half, at 34-23 with 3:41 to go. The College of New Jersey then chipped away a bit at the lead for the rest of the half, culminating with a Brackett layup in traffic with five seconds left to set the halftime score at 43-35 in favor of Skidmore.
 
Skidmore opened the second half with a quick 8-2 spurt, capped off by a slick feed from Paris to Jackson for the easy layup, pushing the lead to 15. The Lions then slowly chipped at the deficit, coming as close as eight after a trey by guard Jordan Glover, with the score at 79-71 with 6:07 to go in regulation. The Thoroughbreds then went on a back-breaking 12-4 spurt, highlighted by a feed from sophomore forward Charlie Williams to a cutting Rupkus, who made the tough layup while getting fouled, then hitting the resulting free throw.
 
The Thoroughbreds won the battle of the paint in the contest, outrebounding the Lions 35-27, while also outscoring them in the paint, 44-22.
 
The Thoroughbreds will host Houghton on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Williamson Sports Center.