LOS ANGELES, CA – The Skidmore College men's basketball team kicked off the new year with a 75-71 west coast victory over Occidental on Thursday afternoon, in a game that saw the team take the lead from the opening tip and maintain it throughout.

Career-highs from sophomores Aidan Roy (11 assists) and Charlie Fantom (six made three-pointers, four steals), as well as senior Alexei Downie (15 rebounds) capped off a coast-to-coast finish that saw the Thoroughbreds (4-5) knock down 13 three-pointers to go alongside 20 assists in a complete team performance over the Tigers (5-5).  

"Proud of the guys. Anytime you can take that much time off, travel across the country and get a win against a good team is something you have to appreciate. Our trip so far has been terrific. We have another big test on Saturday, but we will enjoy this for tonight and continue to bond as a group and enjoy the great weather," says head coach Joe Burke.
 
"We certainly have things to improve on, but I thought we played really well for segments of this game and got better as a team.  We also got a lot of different contributions.  We know we are still at the stage where we're just trying to consistently improve as we get healthier."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Skidmore began the match on an 11-0 burst as Fantom knocked in a pair of early three-pointers.
• After Occidental pulled within four points late in the first half, 30-26, the Thoroughbreds swiftly responded with an extensive 15-2 run in the closing minutes, including the final eight points unanswered as the Tigers were kept scoreless in the final 2:22 of the half. Skidmore entered halftime up 45-28.
• Kicking off the second half of action, the Thoroughbreds pulled ahead by 20 points at the 15:10 mark before Occidental clawed back into the game by cutting the lead back down to single digits, 60-51, at the 8:23 mark following a 16-5 scoring spurt.
• Skidmore followed with a 7-0 burst off a pair of threes from Downie and Roy, the latter of whom was fouled for a four-point play to lead 67-51 with 7:22 to go.
• When the Tigers rallied once again, this time on a 11-2 run, in a last-dotch effort to tie the game up, a Joey Skoric jumper with 1:06 to go pushed Skidmore up 71-62 and was enough to ultimately ice the game.  

STANDOUT THOROUGHBREDS

• Roy finished with a double-double as the sophomore scored 13 points to go with his career-best 11 assists.
• Downie scored seven points with a pair of blocks to go with his career-high 15 boards.
• Fantom led the scoring with 18 points to go with four rebounds, two assists and a career-best four steals.
• Skoric had a standout two-way performance after scoring 14 points to go with six rebounds and six blocks.

UP NEXT
The Thoroughbreds will round out the west coast road trip on Saturday by taking on Pomona-Pitzer in Claremont, CA. The start time is set for 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET.