SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Skidmore College men's basketball team shot a season-best 67.7 percent from the field in the second half, leading to a 96-76 victory over Houghton at the Williamson Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Thoroughbreds improve to 5-1 with the victory, while the Highlanders drop to 2-3.
 
Edvinas Rupkus led the way offensively for the Thoroughbreds, scoring 23 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field, adding eight rebounds. Aldin Medunjanin chipped in 19 points, adding seven assists and three rebounds. Royce Paris scored 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field, including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. Jack Byrne added 12 points, making four treys and Chase Ta added 10 points to round out the double-digit scorers.
 
Mike Clark led the way for the Highlanders with 22 points, adding seven rebounds and two assists. Dylan Lambert tallied a double-double, scoring 16 points and adding 11 rebounds. Jordan Scott added 15 points, while Phil Pellegrino added 11.
 
Houghton came out firing to begin the game, using an early 12-2 run to jump out to a 17-7 lead. After a Medunjanin trey reduced the deficit to 20-16, the Highlanders went on another run, going on an 18-6 spurt to jump out to their biggest lead of the game at 38-22, with 3:43 to go in the first half.
 
From there, the shots started falling for the Thoroughbreds, as Paris and Rupkus combined for 13 of Skidmore's final 16 points of the half. Paris converted the and-one bucket and the free throw to reduce the Houghton lead to 11, then Rupkus converted on the layup on the next possession to reduce the deficit to nine. With the clock ticking down in the first half, Medunjanin found Jack Morrow on the wing for a deep 3-pointer as time expired, with the Thoroughbreds trailing by two, at 40-38.
 
Skidmore rode that momentum in the second half, eventually taking the 57-56 lead on a Morrow trey from the wing. It was the beginning of a back-breaking 10-minute stretch in which the Thoroughbreds outscored the Highlanders 34-11.
 
The Thoroughbreds shot an impressive 55.2 percent (32-for-58) from the field in the game, including 21-for-31 (67.7%) in the second period. Skidmore also recovered after a slow start from beyond the arc, hitting a season-best 15 treys.
 
"I've been doing this long enough to know you never take wins for granted," said Skidmore College men's basketball head coach Joe Burke. "I thought Houghton came out and really executed and it took us some time to adjust. I was proud of how we responded in the second half. Their offense is tough to guard and difficult to simulate in practice. Special thanks to a great crowd tonight. I thought we fed off their energy and it helped us get things rolling tonight."
 
Skidmore will hit the road to take on Plattsburgh Tuesday evening at 7 p.m.