CASTLETON, Vt. – A solid performance by junior forward Dakpe Yiljep in his first game as a Thoroughbred led the Skidmore College men's basketball team to an 89-79 victory over Castleton, in the season opener for both squads at Glenbrook Gymnasium Wednesday night.
 
The Thoroughbreds, receiving votes in the preseason D3hoops.com national poll, have won four of the last five season openers.
 
Yiljep, a transfer from Division II Chestnut Hill College, led the Thoroughbreds with a 25-point, 11-rebound double-double, shooting 10-for-13 from the field. He led four Skidmore scorers in double figures. Edvinas Rupkus picked up right where he left off from a record-setting 2016-17 season, adding a double-double of his own with 19 points and 13 rebounds, adding five assists. Pat Gallagher and Noah Meren came off the bench, scoring 13 and 11 points, respectively. Chase Ta tallied eight points and a tied a game-high with nine assists.
 
Jordan Nelson led the Spartans with 13 points and nine assists. Pavin Parrish added 12 points.
 
Both teams were scintillating from the field to begin the first half. Skidmore made 12 of their first 19 shots (63.2), while Castleton nearly equaled the mark with a 12-for-20 (60%) performance. With the Spartans leading 45-41 at the 2:02 mark, Skidmore slowly chipped away at the deficit. Made free throws by Meren and Rupkus and a driving layup by Gallagher with 40 seconds left gave the Thoroughbreds the 46-45 edge heading into the locker rooms for halftime.
 
The Thoroughbreds put the clamps down on the Castleton offense in the second half, holding the Spartans to 27.9 percent shooting from the field. After Castleton's Michael Morgan hit a 3-pointer to retake the lead at 53-50, Skidmore turned the tide with a 13-0 run in 5:18. After layups by Rupkus and Yiljep gave Skidmore the lead again, an Yiljep old-fashioned three-point play on the next possession stretched the lead to four. Steals on consecutive possessions by Chase Ta helped to stretch the lead to eight, and Meren capped the run with a pair of free throws to give Skidmore its biggest lead of the night, at 63-53.
 
From there, Castleton slowly chipped away at the deficit, eventually getting seven straight points to cut the lead down to 76-74 with 5:02 left. On the other end, Rupkus drove to his left, absorbed the contact by the Castleton defender and made the basket while drawing the foul, to keep Castleton at bay. The Thoroughbreds scored five more points, mostly at the line, before a Tyler Arsenault drove for the layup to cut the deficit at 81-76 with 2:16 to go in regulation.
 
With the game in the balance at the 1:13 mark, Castleton's Jordan Nelson attempted to drive for the layup, but his attempt was denied at the rim by Yiljep. In transition, Rupkus fed a streaking Gallagher up the court, as he finished with a dunk at the other end to end the threat. The Thoroughbreds eventually sealed the game with free throws.  
Skidmore shot a blistering 60.4 percent from the field in the contest, despite making only 4-of-15 shots from beyond the arc. The Thoroughbreds also out-rebounded the Spartans, 44-30.

Skidmore remains on the road for their next contest, at Hartwick on Saturday at 1 p.m.