Skidmore College Athletics

PLATTSBURGH, NY – The Skidmore College men's basketball team tipped off the 2026-27 season with a dominant 87-65 road victory at Plattsburgh State on Friday evening.

Led by a balanced scoring attack, the Thoroughbreds (1-0) had five players score in double figures while shooting 9-of-25 from three-point range and scoring 42 points in the paint as a unit. Skidmore also forced 19 turnovers from the Cardinals (0-1) and outscored the hosts 42-29 in the second half to pull away down the stretch.

FROM HEAD COACH JOE BURKE
"Good start for our guys tonight. We have been working on some new things as a group and I thought we took steps in the right direction. There will be a lot to clean up on the film but I was happy with how we competed and played together.
 
"This team has a lot of depth so it could be any combination of guys that produce the scoring on any given night. Nobody around here cares who it is, all that matters is that we continue to play to our standard as a group."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• After trailing 15-11 with 12:52 remaining in the first half, Skidmore put together a 19-6 run capped by a driving layup from senior Aidan Roy to take a 30-21 lead with 6:48 on the clock.
• A three-pointer from senior Hakeem Daphnis off an assist from fellow senior Nick Padilla gave Skidmore its biggest lead of the first half, 45-34, with 38 seconds remaining before a late Cardinals layup made it 45-36 at halftime.
• Skidmore connected on seven of its 17 three-point attempts and received 10 points from freshman Noah Williams in the opening half to build its nine-point advantage.
• Plattsburgh opened the second half with a quick 6-2 burst, cutting Skidmore's lead to 47-42 with 18:02 remaining.
• The Thoroughbreds answered with a 12-0 run, including nine points from sophomore Jacob Gooden, to extend the lead to 59-42 with 14:43 on the clock.
• The Cardinals responded with an 11-2 run to pull within single digits, trimming the deficit to 61-53 with 10:37 remaining.
• That was as close as Plattsburgh would get, as Skidmore outscored the Cardinals 26-12 the rest of the way to seal the victory.

STANDOUT THOROUGHBREDS

• Roy finished with a game-high 19 points on an efficient 7-of-12 shooting.
• Williams scored 17 points off the bench in his collegiate debut on 6-of-8 shooting.
• Gooden scored 16 points to go with a game-best five assists and three rebounds.
• Sophomore Will Wertz finished with 11 points and three rebounds.
• Daphnis scored 10 points to go with seven rebounds.
• Senior Jack LaGarde grabbed a team-high nine rebounds to go with three steals and two blocks.

UP NEXT
The Thoroughbreds will host Norwich for the home opener at the Williamson Sports Center next Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 5:30 PM.