TROY, NY – The Skidmore College men's basketball team fell on the wrong end of a furious RPI comeback to ultimately lose 64-61 on the road Friday evening.

Despite the end result, the Thoroughbreds (4-7, 0-4 Liberty League) showcased the ability to hang with the best in the conference after leading by as many as 21 points over the Engineers (10-2, 4-1 Liberty League) during the first half, before nearly completing a late-game comeback of their own after the home team retook the lead in the latter portion of the second half.

"Tough to come out on the losing end of this one but really proud of the guys. We played incredible basketball for the first 12 minutes of this game. We were fluid on offense and communicated great on defense. It was a great, fun product to watch," said head coach Joe Burke. "But suddenly the game turned into a foul fest for the rest of the half and it is hard to maintain a lead when you get outshot 18-1 from the line in the first 20 minutes. We were down a few guys and started to wear out a bit in the 2nd half but we fought hard to give ourselves a chance right till the end."
 
We are so close and tonight we should glimpse of how good we can be even on the road.  We look forward to getting back out there tomorrow."

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Skidmore jumped out to an 11-0 burst before eventually pushing the early advantage up to 29-8 at the 10:27 lead. Sophomore Aidan Roy led the way with eight points and three assists during the stretch.
• The Engineers responded with a 13-2 run of their own to get back into the game by cutting the Thoroughbreds advantage down to ten points, 31-21, at the 4:07 mark.
• After a layup from sophomore Ethan Madeiros momentarily halted RPI's run, the home team would close out the first half on a frantic 9-0 run in the final 3:17 of action. Skidmore entered intermission with the lead trimmed down to a mere three points, 33-30.
• In the second half, the Thoroughbreds battled hard by maintaining the lead for the first six minutes before the Engineers took the lead for the first time on a three-pointer at the 14:21 mark to go ahead 40-39.
• With momentum favoring RPI, the Thoroughbreds managed to keep the deficit to within a possession up to the 11:58 mark, when a turnaround jumper from senior Alexei Downie pulled Skidmore to within two points, 46-44.
• The Engineers followed with a 10-3 scoring burst that placed Skidmore in a 56-47 hole with 6:44 remaining, which was countered by a 7-0 run by the Thoroughbreds to pull back within a lone possession, 56-54, at the 3:52 mark.  
• However, that proved to be the closest the Thoroughbreds would get as an RPI three-pointer followed by a back-breaking layup with 90 seconds to go was enough to secure the game.

STANDOUT THOROUGHBREDS

• Roy continues his stellar play by leading the team with 18 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists.
• Sophomore Hakeem Daphnis chipped in a dozen points to go with four rebounds.
• Downie pulled in nine rebounds to go with nine points and two blocks

UP NEXT
The Thoroughbreds will round out the weekend road trip tomorrow by taking on Union in a 4 PM matchup.