SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Skidmore College men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 78-62 decision to No. 25 Hobart in Liberty League action at the Williamson Sports Center Friday night.
 
The Thoroughbreds (11-10, 7-8 Liberty League) fall to a tie for fifth place in the league standings. Hobart (19-3, 14-1 Liberty League), the 25^th-ranked team in the latest d3hoops.com rankings, wins its 13^th game in a row, clinching the Liberty League regular season title.
 
Hobart led most of the way, going on an early 12-0 run after Skidmore's Edvinas Rupkus led the game with a 3-pointer. The Thoroughbreds got a trey from Rupkus, and a jumper by Pat Gallagher, reducing the deficit to 18-10, before a fire alarm halted play for the first time at the 9:48 mark.
 
When play resumed, Skidmore got back into it, reducing the deficit to six on a couple of occasions, on buckets by Noah Meren and Jack Byrne before the Statesmen stretched the lead to its largest at 46-23, before another alarm halted play for about 20 minutes.
 
The Thoroughbreds returned to action with a vengeance, scoring the final five points of the first half, as Hobart held the halftime lead, 46-28. Skidmore chipped at the deficit to begin the second half, getting the deficit to 10 after a Byrne trey at the 14:27 mark. Skidmore pushed further, getting another Byrne 3-pointer at the 11:01 mark, and scoring on a layup after a Hobart turnover on the next possession. Skidmore trailed by just five, at 53-48, midway through the second half. The Statesmen countered with a 12-4 spurt, eventually putting the game out of reach to keep its win streak going.
 
Rupkus led Skidmore with 17 points and six rebounds. Byrne chipped in 13 points to lead a strong bench performance, who combined to chip in 31 points. Benny Louchheim tallied career-bests with six points, four assists, and three rebounds in 10 minutes. Marcus Jackson added six points, seven rebounds, and three blocked shots. The Thoroughbreds shot 37.7 percent from the field in the contest and outrebounded the Statesmen by a 39-32 margin.
 
Colin Dougherty led Hobart with 22 points and four steals. Dan Masino added 18 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Four of the five Hobart scorers tallied double-digit points, with the team shooting 49.1 percent from the field.
 
The Thoroughbreds will wrap up the home portion of the schedule on Saturday with the annual "Big Green Scream" event, with Skidmore hosting RIT at 4 p.m. The Thoroughbreds will honor seniors Louchheim, Jackson, Martin Bedulskij, and Jack Morrow before the game.