Canton, N.Y. – The Skidmore College men's basketball team lost to Hobart, 83-76 in Friday night's Liberty League semifinal at Burkman Gymnasium.
The Thoroughbreds fall to 16-10 overall, while the Statesmen improve to 17-9 overall and will face the winner of the St. Lawrence – Union game in the Liberty League Championship.
Terron Victoria (Albany, N.Y.) had 14 points to lead Skidmore and
Gerard O'Shea (West Sand Lake, N.Y.) added 13 points.
Kyle Clark (New York, N.Y.) chipped in with nine points and
Sakhile Sithole (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) and
Jeff Altimar (Medfield, Mass.) each had eight.
The teams got off to a torrid pace early in the first half as Skidmore made nine of their first eleven shot and Hobart shot 9-for-10 to open the game. The Statesmen got out to an early 6-0 lead but the Thoroughbreds came back and were able to tie it up and took their first lead on a jumper by Victoria at the 13:42 mark.
Hobart was able to maintain the lead throughout the rest of the half as Matt Pebole and Tim Llewellyn combined to score 12 of their team's final 16 points as Skidmore went into the half, trailing 38-45.
The Thoroughbreds opened up the second half with a 14-4 run and took a 50-49 lead at the 16:02 mark on a layup from Clark. Skidmore would push their lead five on a
Brian Lowry (West Hartford, Conn.) layup at 11:05.
The teams traded baskets over the next five minutes before the Statesmen took the lead back on a pair of Stefan Thompson free throws. The Thoroughbreds tied it right back up on free throws from Altimar before Pebole gave Hobart their final lead on a layup with five minutes remaining as the Statesmen closed out the game with a 14-7 run.
Matt Pebole scored a game-high 30 points on 11-for-18 shooting for Hobart while Thompson added 19 points and six assists. Tim Llewellyn had 12 points and Adam Salzmann grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
Skidmore shot 41% from the field and finished 11-for-14 from the free throw line, while the Statesmen shot 44% and 23-for-26 (89%) from the free throw line.
