GREENSBORO, NC – The Skidmore College men's basketball team opened play at the Springhill Suites Guilford Holiday Classic with an 83-60 defeat to Concordia-Moorhead at neutral-site Guilford College on Monday evening.

The Thoroughbreds (4-4) came out firing, scoring 40 points on an efficient 15-of-28 shooting in a high-scoring first half, but couldn't sustain the production as the Cobbers (8-2) strung together a decisive 27-7 run midway in the second half to turn a back-and-forth contest that featured eight lead changes and eight ties into a lopsided result.

"I thought for 20 minutes we competed hard and it looked like we might be okay coming off the layoff. But in the second half, we looked like a team that hasn't played in 23 days," said head coach Joe Burke.
 
"That's a good basketball team we lost to. They played a tough physical style just as you would expect and I thought they wore on us. It was a great opportunity, but we just didn't compete hard enough for the entire game. I'm confident we will learn from it and build on it.
 
"We have to bounce back tomorrow. When you play a team like the Coast Guard Academy, you know you have to bring it. I coached at a service academy and these guys love these trips. They are physically tough and it will be a hard game to win if we don't play well for 40 minutes."

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In a high-scoring first half, Skidmore jumped out to a quick 16-9 lead at the 14:08 mark, led by five early points from junior Hakeem Daphnis.
• The Cobbers responded with an 8-0 run to get back into the game by taking the 17-16 lead with 11:56 to go, setting up a back-and-forth close to the first half that saw four lead changes and four ties the rest of the way.
• At halftime, the Thoroughbreds faced a one-possession deficit, 40-42, as freshman Jacob Gooden led the team with a stellar dozen points.
• Coming out of intermission, Skidmore quickly retook the lead after a layup and free throw from Gooden, alongside pullup jumper from Daphnis, put the Thoroughbreds up 45-44 with 17:57 left in the half.
• However, it was all Cobbers from there, as an extended 27-7 scoring run from Concordia over a 12-minute stretch completely shifted the competitive match into a one-sided 71-52 affair with 5:57 to go, before ultimately pulling away for good.  

STANDOUT THOROUGHBREDS

• Gooden finished with a team-high 15 points.
• Daphnis scored eight points to go with a team-high three steals.
• Senior Joey Skoric led the team with seven rebounds and three blocks.

UP NEXT
The Thoroughbreds will wrap up competition at the Springhill Suites Guilford Holiday Classic tomorrow by taking on the United States Coast Guard Academy in the Consolation game at 1 PM.