POTSDAM, N.Y. - The Skidmore College men's basketball team fell to Clarkson University, 70-55, in its Liberty League opener on Friday evening on the road.

• Clarkson (5-3, 2-0 Liberty League) took control early, outscoring Skidmore 40-21 in the first half and maintaining the lead throughout.
• The Thoroughbreds (3-3, 0-1 Liberty League) rallied in the second half, scoring 34 points, while cutting the deficit to 10, but it proved too large to overcome.
• Sophomore Aidan Roy led Skidmore with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including a perfect 3-for-3 from the free-throw line.
• Charlie Fantom added 10 points and a team-high six rebounds, while Nick Padilla contributed nine points off the bench, going 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.
• Clarkson's balanced attack was spearheaded by Steve DeRegis, who scored a game-high 17 points, including three three-pointers.
• Braeden Burns added 16 points and six rebounds, while Jack Dalgety chipped in 11 points and seven boards.
• Skidmore struggled from beyond the arc, connecting on just 3-of-21 attempts (14.3 percent), while Clarkson capitalized on second-chance opportunities, out-rebounding Skidmore 43-36 and scoring 15 second-chance points.
• Both teams scored an even 30 points in the paint.
• Skidmore showed resilience in the second half, cutting Clarkson's 19-point halftime lead nearly in half.
• The hosts regained control soon after and led by as many as 24 down the stretch.

 
FROM HEAD COACH JOE BURKE
"Have to tip your hat to Clarkson. I thought they outplayed us tonight. We had a hard time putting the ball in the basket for the first 15 minutes of the game and it is tough to overcome that on the road. Our inability to convert on offense ultimately affected us on the defensive end and caused us to fall behind. We fought to get ourselves back in the game in the second half, but it was too big of a mountain to climb.

"Winning games on the road in this league is tough. This is one game in an 18-game tournament for us. We just have to continue to get better and we get to do that tomorrow against Saint Lawrence." 
 
UP NEXT

• Skidmore will stay up North to round out the weekend at St. Lawrence on Saturday at 4 p.m.