ONEONTA, NY – Utilizing a strong scoring burst to close the first half, and 18 points from sophomore Hakeem Daphnis, the Skidmore College men's basketball team successfully cruised to a 79-59 blowout victory over Hartwick on Tuesday evening.

Now winners of three in a row, the Thoroughbreds (3-2) strung together an impressive 22-5 scoring burst entering halftime and never looked back, as three scorers reached double digits to ultimately sink the Hawks (0-6) in the early-week matchup.  

"It took us a while to get going as expected coming out of the break but I thought once we settled in, we did some good things. The defense improved as the game went along and the rebounding got better. We didn't make a lot of shots tonight, but that can happen and we have to be able to rely on our defense to win games on the road like that," said head coach Joe Burke.

We have a long way to go but we're making strides. We are excited to start league play but our main focus continues to be about improvement, this group can continue to get better with each game."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• After a slower offensive start saw Skidmore falling behind 20-14 following a made Hartwick three-pointer at the 8:19 mark, the Thoroughbreds firmly responded with an extensive 22-5 scoring run in the remainder of the first half to take a commanding 36-25 lead into half.
• Daphnis was the driving force behind the strong close by pitching in 11 points with a trio of made three-pointer jumpers during the scoring run.
• Beginning the second half, Skidmore kept the lead within double digits largely behind timely scoring from sophomore Charlie Fantom and guards Jake Walsh and Nick Padilla, which prevented the Hawks from making any extensive comeback bids despite cutting the lead down to 10 multiple times.
• The Thoroughbreds pulled away for good with over eight minutes left after breaking off an 20-6 scoring run to balloon the lead to a game-high 25 points, 77-52, at the 2:02 mark.

STANDOUT THOROUGHBREDS

• Daphnis finished his night with 18 points, four assists, three steals and shot 4-for-6 from behind the arc.
• Junior Joey Skoric recorded 11 points to go with six rebounds and a block.
• Fantom scored ten points and recorded six rebounds with two assists
• Senior Alexei Downie nearly recorded a double-double after grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds to go with nine points and two assists.
• Sophomore Aidan Roy dished out a game-best six assists to go with nine points, four rebounds and two steals
• The bench duo of senior Jake Walsh and sophomore Nick Padilla both scored eight points.

UP NEXT
The Thoroughbreds begin conference play on Friday with a 7:30 PM road matchup at Clarkson.