SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A last second shot by Skidmore College men's basketball senior guard Aldin Medunjanin fell just short, as RPI handed Skidmore its first Liberty League loss, a 69-66 decision at the Williamson Sports Center Saturday afternoon.
 
The Thoroughbreds drop to 3-1 in league play and 8-5 overall. RPI improves to 9-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play.
 
With RPI holding a 67-63 advantage, sophomore guard Jack Byrne fed Medunjanin in the corner for a key 3-pointer to bring the deficit to one with 1:16 remaining. After missed shots on both ends, Skidmore had the ball with the chance to win the game with 13 seconds left. Sophomore guard Edvinas Rupkus' shot from the top of the key just missed, and RPI corralled the rebound, with guard Jonathan Luster hitting two free throws with 2.1 seconds left.
 
Medunjanin's chance from about 50 feet away just missed, hitting the top of the rim.
 
Medunjanin led all scorers with 20 points, shooting 6-for-12 from the field. He added seven rebounds and five assists. Rupkus notched his third double-double of the season, grabbing 11 rebounds to go along with his 12 points. Byrne and sophomore guard Chase Ta each added nine points.
 
Forward Andreas Kontopidis led the Engineers with 19 points, adding three rebounds. Guard Tom Horvat added 16 points, while Luster added 12.
 
RPI broke out of the gates in the first 10 minutes, holding a 23-7 advantage. From there, Skidmore chipped away at the deficit. Three free throws by Rupkus took the deficit down to six, at 26-20. After a made layup by Horvat, Ta, making his first start of the season, scored on the other end. Medunjanin forced a RPI turnover, which led to a Ta trey, bringing the deficit to 30-28. With RPI nursing a 42-38 lead in the game's final seconds, Ta picked Horvat's pocket, scoring the other way to beat the buzzer.
 
Both teams battled through the second half, with Skidmore eventually taking 56-55 lead on a Byrne trey with 10:07 left. Both teams traded leads down the stretch; Skidmore took a 61-60 lead on a made free throw by junior center Marcus Jackson, before Luster scored five straight points to build a 65-61 lead. Medunjanin scored off an inbounds pass to reduce the deficit to two, before Kontopidis hit a pair of free throws to give RPI the 67-63 advantage.
 
RPI outshot Skidmore from the field, shooting 42.3 percent. The Thoroughbreds shot 37 percent from the field, but gained a slight advantage on the boards, 36-35.
 
"I was proud of the guys and how they battled," said Skidmore head coach Joseph Burke. "We clearly didn't have our 'A' game but we hung around and had a great look to win it at the end. We need to take tomorrow and get some rest; the beauty of basketball is that you get to go right back at it in a couple days. We have tough trip to Clarkson on Tuesday and they like everyone else are looking to knock us off so we will need to be ready."
 
"We also need to keep developing our guys into new roles.  Losing Royce Paris and Martin Bedulskij is significant but I am completely confident that this group can still accomplish great things."
 
Skidmore will next head to Clarkson for a Tuesday evening contest. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m.