Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (January 29, 2010 -- The Vassar College men's basketball team could not find its way through Skidmore's stifling full-court press and fell 81-60 in its Liberty League home opener at the Athletics & Fitness Center on Friday night. The Thoroughbreds forced 21 Brewers turnovers in the contest, most of which came at the hands of Skidmore's feisty man-to-man press, while committing just six of their own in the decisive win.

Vassar drops to 2-15 overall and 0-6 in Liberty League play and will look for its first league win when it hosts Union College tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Skidmore, at 11-6 and 4-2, is now locked in a three-way tie for second place in the league and will take on RPI tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. in Troy.

Thanks to the hot hand of senior guard Casey Black, the Brewers built an early 8-2 lead five minutes into play. Black hit two three-pointers and added a pair of free throws in the stretch, during which Skidmore shot just one of seven from the field. But the Thoroughbreds soon settled into their offense and found its way around Vassar's zone defense, rattling off a 10-0 run to lead 12-8 with 12:42 remaining in the first half.

Vassar managed to take the lead just one more time in the contest, when sophomore Caleb McGraw knocked down a three-pointer to put the home team in front 13-12. But the Brewers suffered from Skidmore's significant size advantage — the Thoroughbreds collected 18 offensive rebounds and outscored Vassar 24-12 in the paint — and fell behind by 15 at the half, 39-24.

In the second half Skidmore's defensive intensity only increased, and although Vassar's shooting improved from 31 percent in the first half to 50 percent in the second, they continued to struggle against the press. Skidmore collected nine steals in the second stanza, and their 15-point halftime lead swelled to 24 just two and a half minutes into the second half. Vassar was able to whittle it down to 15 with ten minutes remaining in the game, but that was as close as it would get.

Skidmore benefited from a balanced scoring attack, with seven players contributing at least seven points. Junior Jeff Altimar led the way with 11 points, and Melvis Langyintuo and Sakhile Sithole each added 10.

For Vassar, Black recorded a career-high 18 points on 5-11 shooting, including 4-6 from behind the arc, and McGraw added 19 points of his own. Junior guard Devon Luongo shot 3-3 and finished with seven points.