SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The race for the Liberty League regular season title is heating up as January nears its end, as the Skidmore College men's basketball team hosts Capital Region foes Union and RPI this weekend to kick start the second half of the league season.
Liberty League action at the Williamson Sports Center will begin on Friday as Skidmore hosts Union at 7 p.m. The weekend will end with RPI coming up to Saratoga Springs on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Skidmore (10-6, 8-2 Liberty League) got back on track this past weekend, defeating Bard and Ithaca to stay in second-place in the league standings, one game in the loss column behind league leaders St. Lawrence.
Ryan Murunge made his first career start against Bard and was effective all weekend. The freshman scored 10 points, adding four rebounds and three blocked shots against Bard on Friday, then topped that with a 12-point, 12-rebound performance against Ithaca the next day.
Noah Meren earned his fifth Liberty League Performer of the Week honor of the season on Monday after averaging 25.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game last week. That included a 31-point outburst in the Bard victory, as he continues to lead the conference in scoring at 22.1 points per game.
Edvinas Rupkus (16.7 ppg) and
Greg Skoric (7.6 ppg) are Skidmore's other leading scorers. Rupkus is the team's best 3-point threat at 44.4 percent, while Skoric leads the team in field goal percentage (49 percent) and blocked shots (20).
Chase Ta leads the team in assists at 5.1 per game.
Union (8-7, 4-5 Liberty League) also righted the ship over the past few games, climbing back into the playoff picture with victories over Vassar and RPI. The Dutchmen currently sit in a tie with Ithaca for sixth place in the league standings.
Union sports a balanced offense this season, with Jackson Mannix (15.7 ppg), Brendan Laing (12.1 ppg), Mike Concannon (11.0 ppg), Kevin Jefferson (10.5 ppg), and Kevin McNoble (10.1 ppg) each scoring in double figures. Concannon leads the team in assists at 4.1 per game, while Temi George leads the team in rebounds (5.1 rpg).
RPI (10-6, 5-4 Liberty League) sits in a tie with Bard for fourth place in the league standings. The Engineers have split the last four games, with wins against Ithaca and Vassar and losses to Bard and Union.
RPI also sports a balanced offense, with Tom Horvat (16.8 ppg), Patrick Mahoney (14.2 ppg), Andreas Kontopidis (13.4 ppg), Marcus Giese (10.3 ppg) leading the team in scoring. Kontopidis and Mahoney shares the team lead in rebounding (5.6 rpg), while Horvat leads the team in assists (2.4 apg).
Skidmore defeated both Union and RPI in the last meeting on Jan. 4-5. A late Rupkus free throw lifted the Thoroughbreds to a 70-69 win in Troy and Skidmore defeated Union 90-83 in Schenectady.
