SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Skidmore College men's basketball team looks to rebound this weekend, facing a long road trip west for a pair of Liberty League matchups. The Thoroughbreds face RIT on Friday at 7 p.m. and finish the weekend at Hobart on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
Live stats and video are available for Friday's contest. Live stats, video, and audio are available for Saturday's game.
 
The Thoroughbreds (8-3, 4-1 Liberty League) saw its undefeated start in league play end to Vassar in a 67-59 loss on the road on Tuesday. Edvinas Rupkus tied a season-high with 32 points in the loss.
 
Rupkus continues to lead the league in scoring at 23.5 points per game. He also leads the league in 3-point percentage, shooting an incredible 51.1 percent, and is second in field goal percentage at 56.2 percent and second in assists at 4.1. Dakpe Yiljep, named as the Liberty League Performer of the Week this past Monday, is second on the team with 16.1 points per game. Yiljep is second in the conference, shooting 87.5 percent from the free throw line. Chase Ta continues to lead the league with 5.4 assists per game, sporting the conference's best assist/turnover ratio at 1.8.
 
As a team, Skidmore leads the league in scoring at 81.5 points per game and is shooting the ball at a league-best 47.9 percent from the field.
 
RIT comes into the weekend with a 5-7 record overall, sitting in fourth place in the league standings at 3-2. The Tigers fell to Ithaca by a 77-61 score in its last matchup last Tuesday.
 
Troy Pierre-Louis leads the team in scoring at 14.2 points per game and assists at 3.8. Anthony Lewis is second at 11.6 points, and leads the team with 15 steals. Robert Aguilera leads the Liberty League and is second in the nation in blocks by a wide margin, swatting 3.6 shots per game.
 
Skidmore was able to sweep both games of the season series last year, and has won six of the last seven games between the two teams.
 
Hobart comes into the weekend with an 9-3 record, tied for first with Skidmore atop the league standings. After dropping its first league contest, Hobart has won four straight, including three in the 2018 calendar year. The Statesmen host Bard on Friday before Skidmore heads to Geneva the next day.
 
Hobart has four double-digit scorers, led by Colin Dougherty's 14.8 points per game. Jamal Lucas (14.3), Tucker Lescoe (12.8), and rookie Dan Masino (11.8) rounds out the group. Lucas is also the team's leading rebounder at 6.0 boards per game.
 
Skidmore and Hobart met in three classic contests last season. At Hobart on Jan. 14, Rupkus hit the game-winning bucket with 8.4 seconds remaining, lifting Skidmore to a 70-69 win in Geneva. In Saratoga Springs on Feb. 10, the two teams caught fire in the second half with 104 combined points, but a combined 49 total points from Rupkus and Aldin Medunjanin gave Skidmore the 87-83 advantage, clinching a playoff berth in front of a packed Williamson Center crowd. In the Liberty League semifinals, Hobart clipped the Thoroughbreds, who fought back from a 14-point second half deficit, but fell short in a 70-65 loss.  Skidmore has won four of the last five games between the two teams.