SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Skidmore College men's basketball team enters the Liberty League semifinal for the eighth season in a row, heading to top-seeded Hobart on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m.
Admission to the contest in Geneva, N.Y. is free.
Live stats and
video will be available for the semifinal contest. In the second game, No. 2 Union will face No. 3 RIT. The semifinal winners will meet in Geneva on Sunday at 2 p.m. for the Liberty League title and the league's automatic bid into the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Fifth-seeded Skidmore (14-11, 9-9 Liberty League) comes off a strong defensive performance in its last contest, a 68-62 victory at Ithaca in the Liberty League quarterfinal. The Thoroughbreds kept the Bombers two of their leading scorers, Marc Chasin and Matt Flood, to 13 combined points on 5-for-17 shooting from the field. On the other end,
Edvinas Rupkus tallied a season-high 39 points to help carry Skidmore to victory.
The win was the third straight for the Thoroughbreds, as they enter the semifinal on a positive note. During the win streak, Skidmore has held opponents to 63.6 points per game, and are scoring 78.6 points on the other end.
Skidmore finished the season fourth in the league in scoring offense at 76.0 points per game, and are third in opposing 3-point percentage, with teams shooting just 30.6 percent. Individually, Rupkus leads the league in scoring at 22.5 points per game. He stands just 17 points from setting the Skidmore single season scoring record of 580, a record he set just last season. He sits in third all-time in scoring with just 1,624 points, despite only playing in 81 career games. The junior also leads the team in rebounding with 6.8 caroms per game.
Dakpe Yiljep has come on strong for Skidmore to close the season, earning Liberty League Performer of the Week honors last Monday, after averaging 26.0 points off the bench in a pair of Skidmore victories. He is second in scoring at 13.7 points and leads the team in shooting efficiency with a 50.6 percentage from the field.
Chase Ta is among the league leaders in assists, dishing out 4.4 helpers per game.
Hobart (21-4, 16-2) won the regular season title for the sixth time in league history, and first since the 2013-14 season. Both teams have combined to win six of the last seven Liberty League titles. Despite the combined success, Skidmore and Hobart have met on only four other occasions in the postseason, with the Statesmen holding a 3-1 advantage.
The Statesmen features four players averaging double digits in scoring. Colin Dougherty leads the offense with 16.9 points per game. Jamal Lucas adds 15.4 points as well as team-highs of 5.6 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. Tucker Lescoe is the team's top long-range marksman. He's averaging 12.6 points per game with a team-high 67 3-pointers. Dan Masino contributes 12.0 points and a team-high 3.1 assists per game. Hobart won the season series against Skidmore, winning 89-74 on Jan. 13 and 78-62 on Feb. 9.
