SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Tautvydas Kupstas finished with 33 points for Skidmore as the Thoroughbreds earned a 79-57 victory over the Vassar College Men's Basketball team on Saturday afternoon. The Brewers move to 13-10 overall and 9-7 in Liberty League action while Skidmore improved to 12-11 and 10-6 in conference contests.
The Thoroughbreds opened the first half with a 13-2 lead as Tautvydas Kupstas and Greg Skoric combined for the Skidmore points early. VC cut the lead down to single digits at 20-12 on a three-pointer from senior
Jack Rothenberg at the 9:38 mark before a jumper from Jack Rovillard pushed the advantage back to double digits.
The Brewers answered with 21-2 run over the next five minutes as seniors
Kevin McAuliffe,
Zev Katz and
Ethan Ellis each hit a three-pointer. VC took its first lead of the contest at 3:47 mark on a putback from junior
Case Parsons and got its lead up to 33-24 on an Ellis triple with 2:24 left in the half. The Thoroughbreds scored the final nine points of the half to tie the contest at 33 heading into the halftime break.
Skoric's three-point play at the 17:51 mark of the second half gave Skidmore a 41-35 lead before a Katz three-pointer and a Parsons free throw got Vassar within one. A layup from Kupstas with 12:27 remaining put the Thoroughbreds up by five at 46-41 before two Katz free throws and a Parsons triple tied the contest at 46 with 11:18 to go.
Skidmore went on a 17-2 run over the next five and a half minutes to take a 63-48 lead with just under six minutes remaining as Kupstas recorded seven and Riley Greene added four. An old-fashioned three-point play from Rothenberg trimmed the Skidmore lead to 65-52 at the 4:17 mark before Skidmore tallied seven straight and took a 20 point lead at 72-52 with 3:05 left in the game.
Rothenberg tallied 14 points and two assists for the Brewers while Katz added 14 points and four boards. Parsons finished with 10 points and five rebounds while Ellis tallied six points and two assists.
Kupstas was 13-for-23 from the field for his 33 points and added five boards while Skoric tallied 15 points and five rebounds. Greene finished an all-around day with eight points, 12 assists and six rebounds while Harrison Echelberger added five points and eight boards.
Vassar shot 35.7-percent from the field and made eight triples while Skidmore shot 49.2-percent overall and also knocked down eight threes. The Brewers held a 21-10 edge in points off turnovers while the Thoroughbreds held a 11-4 advantage in second chance points.
VC will return home for its final two regular season contests next weekend against Hobart on Friday and Ithaca on Saturday.
