New Haven, Conn.— Yale University used a 22-4 advantage from the free throw line in an 88-59 win over Skidmore College Tuesday night at the John J. Lee Amphitheater.

The Thoroughbreds are 7-4, while the Bulldogs have won six straight to jump to 10-3.

Edvinas Rupkus and Noah Meren led Skidmore with 13 points each. Rupkus added four assists, while Meren had the double/double with 10 rebounds. Jack Byrne was also in double figures with 11 points. Chase Ta tallied a game-high six assists.

NBA prospect Miye Oni led six Yale players in double figures with 15 points to go along with four assists and two blocks. Paul Atkinson and Blake Reynolds added 14 each.

The Bulldogs went right after the Thoroughbreds at the opening tip, scoring eight quick points before Meren got Skidmore on the board with a clean basket at 18:13. Down 22-11, Jack Byrne hit a long-distance three to cut it to eight, 22-14 with 10:14 left.

Yale responded with a 13-0 run to go up 32-14 with 7:42 left. Rupkus came through with eight of his team's next 10 points to keep
Skidmore in it, 38-24 with 4:47 to play. The Thoroughbreds held the Bulldogs without a field goal for the final 6:03 of the half; however, Yale hit 11 of 12 free throws to take a 46-30 lead at the half. The Bulldogs went to the line 17 times, while Skidmore had one free throw.

Rupkus had eight at the half, while Meren and Byrne had six.

Yale opened the second half with a 12-3 run to open a 58-33 lead with 15:20 to play. Rupkus had a three to break up the run, but was whistled for his fourth foul shortly after.

The Bulldogs extended their lead to 27, 60-33 with 14:10 to play, but the Thoroughbreds battled back to within 13 with an 18-4 run of their own to make it 65-51 at the 9:41 mark. Greg Skoric had a pair of key inside shots and Pat Gallagher and Byrne hit threes in the run.

Yale responded with a 17-0 run to put the game out of reach.

The Bulldogs scored 24 points off 15 Skidmore turnovers and had a 43-32 rebound advantage. The Thoroughbreds scored 27 points on nine threes, while holding Yale to four threes, all in the first half.

"I am pleased with our effort tonight, "We weren't at our best from an execution standpoint but credit Yale for that. That's a team that can win games in the Division I NCAA tournament this year and I was proud of our ability to go toe to toe with them for long stretches. I thought the early deficit hurt us but when we got settled in we did some really good things.
 
"Overall this was a great experience for our players, your hope is that you get better from it and I believe we will."

Skidmore returns to Liberty League action with a pair of home games this weekend. The Thoroughbreds face RIT at 7 p.m. on Jan. 11 and Hobart on Jan. 12 at 4 p.m.