CLAREMONT, CA – The Skidmore College men's basketball team wrapped up its west coast road trip by splitting a pair of games after falling 81-53 at Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday afternoon.
The Thoroughbreds (4-6) showed fight in the first half by cutting the lead down to single digits in the closing seconds, but couldn't overcome a frantic 19-2 scoring outburst from the Sagehens (6-5) to start the second half that resulted in the home team quickly pull away for good.
"I thought we fought hard in the first half but just couldn't make shots early and the game started to get away from us. Pomona is a really good, veteran, strong, physical team and they know how to play the game. We can learn a lot from playing a team like that that," said head coach
Joe Burke.
"Overall, this was a terrific trip for us. We go home 1-1 but learned a lot and bonded as a group. Special thank you to all of our alumni and our families who made this trip possible. We made a lot of memories on this trip."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Skidmore maintained within a lone possession of Pomona-Pitzer through the first 11 minutes of the match when a Nick Padilla three-pointer pulled the Thoroughbreds within two points, 15-13.
- Soon after, the Sagehens made their first extensive run by outscoring Skidmore 16-5 in the following seven minutes to lead 31-18 at the 2:08 mark.
- The Thoroughbreds closed out the half strong after Charlie Fantom knocked in a pair of free throws and an Aidan Roy three with just five seconds to go pulled the road team to within single digits entering halftime, 31-23.
- However, Pomona-Pitzer came out firing in the opening minutes of the second half with a massive 19-2 scoring run to balloon the Thoroughbreds deficit to 50-25 with 14:16 remaining, which effectively proved too large to overcome and decided the result of the game.
STANDOUT THOROUGHBREDS
- Roy led the scoring with 15 points to go with a pair of assists and rebounds apiece.
- Junior Joey Skoric made a defensive impact by collecting seven boards to go with two steals and two blocks.
UP NEXT
Skidmore will resume Liberty League action next Friday on the road at RPI. The tipoff is set for 7:30 PM.
