SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Skidmore College men's basketball team improved to 4-0 on the young season with a 71-54 win over Hartwick on Monday evening.
 
Tautvydas Kupstas led the way again for the Thoroughbreds with 29 points on 11-of-22 shooting and 7-of-14 from three. Greg Skoric posted his second consecutive double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Harrison Eichelberger finished with 10 points, Riley Greene had eight points and a game-high seven assists, and Ty Lamport collected 12 rebounds and dished out six assists.
 
Cooper Franics tallied 15 points with nine rebounds to lead the Hawks, who sit at 0-5. Liam Drennan had 13 points and finished 6-of-7 from the field and had a team-high three assists.
 
Skidmore built a 10-5 lead after the opening 4:50 of play before Hartwick went on a 15-2 run to lead by eight. "I thought Hartwick played confident and really surprised us early," said Skidmore head coach Joe Burke. "That's a credit to them and their coaches. Our guys had to adjust and when we got the tempo where we wanted, we were able to pull away a bit."
 
The Thoroughbreds put up a 14-4 run of their own before scoring the first half's final eight points to take a 37-29 edge into the break. Kupstas hit five of his seven 3-pointers in the first half, including an emphatic bucket in the closing seconds of the half.
 
A slow start to the second half by both teams gave way to a quick 13-4 burst in favor of Skidmore as it took its largest lead of the night at 17 with 10:29 remaining. The Hawks clawed back to get within eight on three different occasions before the Thoroughbreds were able to pull away.
 
Kupstas drained his final two 3-pointers inside the five-minute mark to give Skidmore more separation, and Skoric joined the party with his second 3-pointer of the night to help close it out. Greene made all four of his free throws down the stretch.
 
"I want to give credit to my staff for that win," Coach Burke said. "It was a program win led by Coach O'Shea, who has been about as good and as loyal of an assistant as you can have. Him, Coach Beck, Lexi and our trainer Nate got these guys ready to play while I had to prioritize my wife and kids for a couple of days. It's a great feeling to have as a head coach when you have a support staff like that."
 
Skidmore will host Utica on Tuesday, Nov. 30 at 6 p.m. before meeting Liberty League competition. "I am happy that we head into a short break at 4-0, but the best part is that we have not even come close to hitting our ceiling," Burke continued. "We are excited to get other guys better and more confident in practice so we can go deeper into our bench."