Box Score

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.— The Skidmore College men's basketball team held on to a share of first place with a 92-80 Liberty League win over Rensselaer on Friday night at the Sports and Recreation Center.  The 14-8 Thoroughbreds are in a four-way tie for first with a 7-4 Liberty League record. RPI falls to 13-7 and 5-5.

Rensselaer led 41-40 after a tight first half that featured 10 lead changes and four ties, but it was all Skidmore in the second.

The Thoroughbreds came out of the break with a 15-4 run to open a 10-point lead, 55-45 with 13:47 to play. The Engineers were unable to cut into the deficit over the final 10 minutes, with Skidmore leading by as many as 17 down the stretch.

Terron Victoria (Albany, N.Y./Bishop Maginn), John Mantas (Niskayuna, N.Y./CBA), and Jeff Altimar (Medfield, Mass./Medfield) each hit threes during the run, with Victoria also scoring on a lay-up.

Skidmore's defense frustrated RPI with the Thoroughbreds scoring 26 points off 15 Engineers turnovers.

Brian Lowry (West Hartford, Conn./St. George's School) led a group of four Skidmore players in double figures with 16 points off the bench. Altimar finished with 13 points, while Jon Douglas (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional) scored 10 and Gerard O'Shea (West Sand Lake, N.Y./Averill Park) added 11 points, four steals, and three assists.

Mantas had a career-high nine assists, while Sakhile Sithole (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) scored nine points and had a team-high eight rebounds off the bench.

Tim Rupp (Staten Island, N.Y./Curtis) led RPI with 16 points and eight rebounds. Ricky Philatre (Randolph, Mass./Randolph) finished with 12 points and Jeremy Bull (Woodbridge, Virg./St. Stephens & St. Agnes) scored 11.

Skidmore plays its final regular-season home game on Saturday at 4 p.m. against Vassar. Rensselaer is at Union at 4 p.m.