GENEVA, N.Y.— Some celebrate their birthday with cake, senior All-American Edvinas Rupkus marked his by becoming the first Skidmore player to reach the 2000-point plateau, leading the Thoroughbreds back into first place with a 79-71 Liberty League road win over Hobart College Friday night.
 
The Thoroughbreds (14-7, 12-2) are tied for first with St. Lawrence. The Statesmen (13-9, 10-5) drop to third place.
 
Needing six points to reach 2000, Rupkus scored Skidmore's first eight points. He finished with 16 points and four steals. Already the program's all-time leading scorer, Rupkus has 2010 career points.
 
Chase Ta led five Thoroughbreds in double figures with 19 points, three assists and a steal. Greg Skoric had a double/double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Noah Meren dropped in 18 points and Jack Byrne added 10 points and six rebounds.
 
Jamal Lucas topped Hobart with 23 points and five assists. Colin Dougherty had 20 points and eight rebounds.
 
The game turned on three minute stretch of the second half when Skidmore went on a 13-3 run. Five different players scored for the visitors during the push that saw them turn a 46-41 deficit into a 54-49 lead. The lead yo-yoed between one and two possessions over the next couple of minutes, but the Thoroughbreds solidified their grip on the lead with an 8-2 capped by a Chase Ta 3-pointer with about four minutes to go.
 
Hobart got back within four on a layup by Lucas with 22 seconds to go, but Skidmore closed out the win by making four free throws in the waning seconds of the game.
 
"Thought we did a really good job of locking in on the game plan and sticking with it till the end, said Skidmore coach Joe Burke. "We got contributions from a bunch of different guys, which is a huge help on the road, we had terrific balance.  Overall,  just a good tough win on the road.  We have to get some rest and bring it  tomorrow against a team that is extremely physical . 
 
"I don't call out individuals much but in this case it is warranted. Edvinas Rupkus hitting the 2000 point mark is  one of the more incredible feats I have seen in my 20 plus years of coaching. He has been the guy that the other team has tried to stop for 4 years and to pull this off with the efficiency he did is incredible. I could not be happier for him and his family.
Kid is a rockstar and he deserves all the accolades he gets, ironically he did it today which is also his birthday!"
 
Skidmore continues its trip on Saturday with a 4 p.m. contest against RIT.