GENEVA, NY – A tale of two halves saw the Skidmore College men's basketball team drop a Liberty League road matchup at Hobart, 86-70, to kick off the weekend road trip on Friday evening.

The Thoroughbreds (5-5, 1-2 Liberty League) knocked down nine three-pointers in a back-and-forth first half that featured seven lead changes and eight ties. However, early second half foul trouble coupled with a sudden cold spell from deep ultimately allowed the Statesmen (9-2, 3-1 Liberty League) to create separation and pull away in the closing minutes.

Despite the result, junior captain Aidan Roy had a terrific performance with a game-high 27 points to go with six rebounds and five assists.

"We just did not play well enough. We had a good week of practice but you can't go on the road and turn the ball over 17 times, give up 12 offensive rebounds, commit 25 fouls and expect to win. That's a formula for disaster," said head coach Joe Burke.
 
"We knew this was going to be a challenge, fortunately we get to play Hobart again down the road but we need to shift our focus to another tough opponent in RPI tomorrow."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Thoroughbreds opened the contest by building a 13-8 lead at the 14:29 mark, the five-point cushion proved to stand as the largest advantage by either team in the first half.
• Hobart answered less than 30 seconds later with a three-pointer and layup to even things up, setting up a back-and-forth opening-half that featured seven lead changes alongside eight ties.
• The Statesmen closed out the half with a 9-3 surge to take their largest lead of the opening period, 42-39, into the break.
• At halftime, Roy led both teams with 14 points to pair with three rebounds and three assists.
• Coming out of intermission, Skidmore ran into early foul trouble, committing eight fouls in the first nine minutes of the second half and allowing the Statesmen a noticeable advantage at the free-throw line to gradually build on their halftime lead.
• Hobart eventually built the lead to as large as 12 points, 69-57, with 7:23 to go, before the Thoroughbreds responded with a 7-0 spurt from Roy and Joey Skoric to cut the deficit down to 69-64 with 6:09 left.
• However, the comeback was halted there as Hobart pushed back with a 17-6 run to close the game.
• The second half saw Hobart attempt 19 free throws off 16 Skidmore fouls, and the Thoroughbreds shoot just 1-of-13 from three-point range. The Statesmen also had 27 points off turnovers throughout the game.

STANDOUT THOROUGHBREDS

• Roy scored a game-high 27 points to go with six rebounds and five assists.
• Skoric scored 11 points with five rebounds and two blocks.

UP NEXT
The Thoroughbreds take on RPI tomorrow to wrap up the weekend road trip. Tip off is set for 4 PM.