SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Skidmore College men's basketball team held off a furious second-half rally to stay perfect in Liberty League play, defeating RIT 78-72 at the Williamson Sports Center on Saturday.
 
The Thoroughbreds improve to 2-0 and 7-3 overall, while the Tigers fall to 6-4 overall and 0-2 in league play.
 
Guard Edvinas Rupkus led the Thoroughbreds with 26 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the field, adding 10 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double. Guard Royce Paris added 19 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Guards Aldin Medunjanin and Jack Morrow each finished with eight points.
 
The Tigers had four players score in double figures. Guard A.J. Horde led the way with 31 points, 27 coming in the second half, while forward Robert Aguilera chipped in 12. Guards Jaymee Rosser and Troy Pierre-Louis finished with 11 and 10 points respectively.
 
Skidmore put the clamps down on the RIT attack in the first half, holding the Tigers to a 1-for-13 start from the field, en route to holding RIT to just 15.3 percent (4-for-26) shooting overall in the first 20 minutes. The Thoroughbreds led by as much as 16; a fastbreak basket by Morrow gave Skidmore the 37-21 advantage with 2:21 to go, leading to the 41-26 halftime advantage.
 
Skidmore put the pressure on to begin the second frame, leading by as many as 17 points on two separate occasions in the second half. Rupkus gave the Thoroughbreds a 49-32 lead on his layup with 17:01 to play in the second half. He later drained a 3-pointer with 12:55 to play to give Skidmore a 56-41 lead.

RIT rallied, pulling to within three points on a 3-pointer from Pierre-Louis with 8:04 to play. Horde led the 12-3 run, scoring eight points during that stretch. After a Paris layup extended the Skidmore lead back to seven points, Horde struck again, this time laying the ball in with 5:48 to play to cut the deficit to 63-61.

After a big basket by Paris to extend the Thoroughbred lead to four points, Horde scored on two straight possessions for RIT, tying the score at 65-65 on his layup with 4:02 to play.

Skidmore stayed poised down the stretch, hitting key free throws to retake the lead. With the 72-68 advantage and the clock ticking down to the last minute of regulation, Paris found forward Martin Bedulskij for the back-breaking lay-in in traffic with 52 seconds left. Paris and Rupkus made key free throws to secure the Thoroughbred victory.  

Skidmore held a 44-32 rebounding edge in the matchup and blocked a season-high nine shots. Skidmore shot 44.4 percent from the field overall, while RIT shot nearly 33 percent.
 
The Thoroughbreds will head west to California, taking on UC-Santa Cruz on Jan. 2, 2017. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. Pacific Time, 10 p.m. Eastern.