SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The 16th-ranked Skidmore College men's basketball team couldn't recover from an early second-half run, as visiting No. 2 Middlebury handed the Thoroughbreds its first loss of the season, a 91-76 decision in front of a packed Williamson Sports Center Friday evening.
 
The Thoroughbreds, ranked 16^th in the latest D3hoops.com Top-25 poll, falls to 6-1 on the season. Middlebury remains undefeated at 6-0.
 
Despite the loss, it was a breakout performance for rookie guard Noah Meren, who led the Thoroughbreds with 19 points, eight rebounds, and two assists, netting career highs for points and rebounds. Edvinas Rupkus tallied 18 points, four rebounds, and two assists. Dakpe Yiljep shot 50 percent from the field (4-of-8), finishing with 16 points, two rebounds, and two steals. Chase Ta led Skidmore with six assists, adding seven rebounds, six points, and two steals.
 
Jack Farrell led Middlebury with 22 points. Nick Tarantino finished with a 20-point, 17-rebound double-double, while Jack Daly also tallied a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists.
 
The lead swung back and forth like a pendulum in the first half, with eight ties and 11 lead changes. Middlebury led by as many as seven, at 16-9, before the Thoroughbreds made their move. A Rupkus layup started a 9-2 run in 3:50, with Meren tying the game at 18 with his 3-pointer at the 8:59 mark. With the game tied at 24, Ta picked Daly's pocket, feeding Pat Gallagher for the fast break dunk to take the lead. Daly scored on a fast break bucket of his own to tie the game back up at 26, but Skidmore pulled away in the final 4:40 of the half, outscoring the Panthers 12-8 to take a 38-34 lead into halftime.
 
Middlebury came out firing in the second half, going on a 13-2 run to take a 52-42 lead at the 14:45 mark. The Thoroughbreds attempted to mount a comeback on a number of occasions, getting within six after consecutive baskets by Rupkus at the 13-minute mark, and within six again at the 8:50 mark, after a Meren trey reduced the deficit to 64-58. Middlebury was able to answer each run with a basket, holding off the Thoroughbreds for the victory.
 
"It was a tough loss to a very good team," said head coach Joe Burke. "While we did not play up to our capabilities, you have to credit Middlebury.  At the end of the day, they did the fundamental things better than we did in the second half.  Offensively, we missed a number of shots that we normally make and defensively we did not finish plays and that is hard to overcome against a team like that."
 
"We will get the chance to learn from this and improve over the break. The exciting part is that this team can be really good if we keep working at it."
 
Skidmore was held to a season-low 25 percent shooting from beyond the arc and shot 39 percent from the field. The Thoroughbreds outrebounded the Panthers by a narrow 41-40 margin.
 
The Thoroughbreds will take a holiday break, resuming action on Dec. 30 at Guilford College in North Carolina, a 3 p.m. start.