ITHACA, N.Y.— Ithaca College held off a late Skidmore surge for a 77-71 Liberty League men's basketball win Friday night.
 
The Thoroughbreds are 6-5 overall and 2-3 in league play, while the Bombers move to 9-5 and 5-2.
 
Tautvydas Kupstas led Skidmore with 25 points, shooting 5-9 from beyond the arc. Greg Skoric earned his seventh double/double 20 points and 10 rebounds. Ty Lamport had a double/double of his own with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Riley Greene added nine points and six assists.
 
Skylar Sinon scored 25 points for Ithaca.
 
The teams were called for a combined 52 fouls and took a total of 67 free throws. Skidmore was 21-30 and Ithaca 24-37.
 
The game was tight throughout. Tied 30-30 at the half and stayed a two-possession game until late in regulation. Tied 59-59, the Bombers used a 9-0 run to go up 68-59 with 2:29 left. Skidmore got to within five, 70-65 on a Kupstas three-pointer with 56 seconds to play. Ithaca then went 7-10 from the line to preserve the win.
 
"The game was there for the taking and we refused to do it," said Skidmore coach Joe Burke. "We didn't play as tough as we need to and the bottom line is if you have that many turnovers, miss that many free throws and give up that many offensive rebounds then you're not winning especially on the road.
 
"Practices are hard to come by nowadays, but we need to find a way to get some in as we get guys back." 
 
Skidmore travels to league leader and 24^th ranked Rensselaer on Sunday for a 3 p.m. game. No spectators will be allowed.