SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – The Skidmore College men's basketball team mounted a strong second-half rally, but it fell just short in an 81–73 loss to Union at the Williamson Sports Center on Tuesday evening.

In a tale of two halves, the Thoroughbreds (7-9, 3-6 Liberty League) struggled early, scoring just 24 points on 8-of-32 shooting in the first half to fall into a double-digit deficit against the Garnet Chargers (14-3, 9-1 Liberty League), before surging after the break with 49 second-half points and closing to within two possessions in the final minutes.

Senior Joey Skoric hit a major career milestone after grabbing his 500th rebound as a Thoroughbred in the first half, and becomes the 15^th player in program history to reach the milestone. Joining him, junior Aidan Roy became the 18^th Thoroughbred to tally 200 career assists in the second half, just days after hitting his 100^th career three-pointer milestone this past weekend against Bard.

"I was proud of the energy and fight in the second half. If we get a call or two to go our way, then that's a one possession game late. Unfortunately, we didn't and the hole we dug was too much to climb out of," said head coach Joe Burke.

"Our first half execution was a major problem. We did not come out and execute like we needed to on either end of the floor. We are a good team and capable of winning a game like that, but we are not good enough to dig a big hole and come back against a quality opponent.

"We will continue to evolve, but we need it to happen sooner than later. We have played with everyone in the league once now. We get an opportunity to run it back a second time starting this weekend."

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The opening stretch was tightly contested, with the Thoroughbreds staying within one point at 14–13 with 13:13 remaining after a three-pointer from junior Hakeem Daphnis and a free throw by Roy.
• Union used an 11–2 run, highlighted by three three-pointers, to build a 25–15 lead with 7:09 remaining, and the momentum carried through the rest of the half as the Garnet Chargers closed on a 26–11 overall run into intermission to lead 40-24.
• At halftime, freshman Jacob Gooden led Skidmore with nine points, while Skoric added six points and eight offensive rebounds, but the Thoroughbreds were limited to 8-of-32 shooting as a team, compared to 16-of-33 from the field for the Garnet Chargers, who also knocked down eight three-pointers in the opening half.
• Coming out of intermission, the Garnet Chargers kept up the intensity by extending the lead to as high as 23 points, 60-37, with 12:42 on the clock to seemingly pull away early.
• The Thoroughbreds responded by continuing to battle back, and eventually strung together an extensive 23-10 scoring run across nine minutes to cut the deficit down to 75-69 at the 1:34 mark, led by seven points from Gooden and five-apiece from Skoric and Roy.
• However, on the ensuing Union offensive possession, the Garnet Chargers knocked down what became a dagger to go up by three possessions with 58 seconds remaining.  
• After a poor shooting first half, Skidmore turned it around with 49 second half points on a solid 17-of-36 shooting from the field.
• As a team, the Thoroughbreds managed to outrebound Union, 41-37, as well as win the possession battle with fewer turnovers, 7-11, in the game. 

STANDOUT THOROUGHBREDS

• Gooden scored a game-high 24 points.
• Skoric recorded a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double to go with three blocks.
• Roy scored 15 points and dished out a team-high four assists.

UP NEXT
The Thoroughbreds are back home on Friday to take on RPI in a 7:30 PM tip-off.