SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – Competing in front of a packed Williamson Sports Center for the annual Big Green Scream game, the Skidmore College men's basketball team came up just short in a hard-fought battle against Clarkson, 74-68, to close out the 2024-25 season on Saturday afternoon.

Honored prior to the game with senior day celebrations, Alexei Downie had a stellar performance in his final collegiate game, recording 17 points while pulling down 11 rebounds for his second career double-double to lead the Thoroughbreds (6-19, 2-16 Liberty League). However, a 28-10 free advantage for the Golden Knights (12-13, 8-10 Liberty League) proved ultimately too much to overcome.

"I want to lead by saying how grateful I am to have coached our senior, Alexei Downie. We are talking about a kid that has overcome multiple career-ending injuries to get himself back on the court to represent this program. He has persevered through so much all while taking the primary leadership role as captain to a team that is primarily made up of under classmen. Thank You Lex," said head coach Joe Burke.

"I also want to thank Skidmore, our athletics staff and all of our fans for joining together to put on an incredible "Big Green Scream" today. We have won many championships in this building, and we will win more again soon and today was like a championship atmosphere for our guys.  My hope is that we carry this vibe into next year."

"I thought today's game was our season in a nutshell. We competed really hard, had every chance to win the game but just could not finish the job.  As I told the guys in the locker room after, we have so many players who gained valuable experience that will be returning over the next couple years," Burke continued. "We will have every opportunity to be very good BUT success is taking advantage of that opportunity and not just assuming it will happen. We grew this year, we certainly got better from last year but now it's time to take a substantial leap."

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first half began in a back-and-forth affair, with no team able to separate themselves as the lead shifted back-and-forth between both teams four times with three ties through the first nine minutes of action.
• Following a made three-pointer from sophomore Hakeem Daphnis at the 8:30 mark, the Thoroughbreds took a 24-20 advantage, their largest lead in the first half of play.
• However, the Golden Knights closed out the half strong by outscoring Skidmore in a 12-3 fashion the rest of the way to take a 32-27 lead at halftime.
• At intermission, Skidmore was led by the duo of Downie and sophomore Nick Padilla, with both combining for 15 points.
• Starting off the second half, the Thoroughbreds quickly erased the deficit with a 12-2 spurt led by a pair of buckets from the sophomore duo of Padilla and Aidan Royto take a 39-34 lead at the 16:12 mark.
• In response, Clarkson quickly fired off a quick 6-0 run of their own to prevent the Thoroughbreds from taking control of the game and retaking the lead at 40-39 with 13:22 to go.
• After a competitive stretch of back-and-forth shot making and points from the free throw line, the Thoroughbreds would take a 61-60 lead at the 4:43 mark off a pair of free throws by sophomore Jack LaGarde.
• However, that proved the last time the home team would take the lead as the Golden Knights immediately retook the lead off a pair of free throws of their own that was followed by timely buckets to keep the Thoroughbreds from ever stringing together a scoring run to close out the match.

STANDOUT THOROUGHBREDS

• Downie scored 17 points with 11 rebounds on 6-of-13 shooting from the field.
• Padilla finished with 14 points, four assists and three rebounds.
• Roy scored a dozen points with three assists and three boards.