ITHACA, NY – The Skidmore College men's basketball team lost by a final 77-64 margin against Ithaca in a competitive road matchup on Friday evening.

The Thoroughbreds (5-15, 1-12 Liberty League) put up a strong fight for the first 36 minutes of the game by keeping the Bombers (12-7, 9-3 Liberty League) lead to within single digits, largely off a timely 11 made three-pointers as a team, before eventually running out of steam and letting the home team pull away in the final moments.

"I thought our effort was really good tonight. This is a tough road trip but the guys competed, wanted to win and it was anyone's game until the end," said head coach Joe Burke. "Ultimately, we just did not finish enough shots. I don't often say this but we got better tonight despite the loss."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Bombers began the game with a hot start as the home team took a 20-9 lead following a pair of made free throws at the 12:26 mark.
• Not allowing the game to get out of hand, the Thoroughbreds answered back with an extended 22-11 scoring run that was capped off by three-consecutive Charlie Fantom three-pointer jumpers to tie the game up at 31 apiece with 2:51 remaining in the half.
• After Ithaca closed out the first half strong, Skidmore faced a 41-35 deficit at intermission, with the sophomore duo of Aidan Roy and Fantom both leading with nine points each.
• The second half began with a back-and-forth affair that saw the Thoroughbreds pull within two points, 42-40, following five unanswered points from Fantom at the 18:06 mark.
• Ithaca would immediately go on an 9-0 scoring burst to put the road team in a double-digit hole with 15:28 to go.
• But once again, Skidmore refused to let the match get away by fighting back and pulling to within six points with 12:34 left, 56-50, following a made jumper from junior Joey Skoric.
• However, that proved the closest the Thoroughbreds would get the rest of the way as the Bombers consistently hit timely shots that squandered multiple attempts from the road team to mount any further comeback bids and extending their lead to as large as 14 points in the final minutes.

STANDOUT THOROUGHBREDS

• Fantom led the way with 14 points and shooting 3-of-7 from three-point land.
• Roy and Hakeem Daphnis also finished in double-digit scoring with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
• Senior Alexei Downie recorded 10 rebounds with three blocks.
• Skoric finished with 11 rebounds to go with seven points, three assists and a block.
• Junior Charlie Weisberg hit three three-pointers to finish with nine points off the bench.

UP NEXT
The Thoroughbreds are back in action tomorrow afternoon at 4 PM to take on Bard in another road matchup.