SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - For a few minutes there, it looked like the whole world of Liberty League men's basketball was going to be thrown off its axis.
Bard, the preseason pick to finish dead last in the Liberty League, led Skidmore, the preseason pick to finish first in the Liberty League, by 11 points with 6:11 left in the first half on Friday night.
The Thoroughbreds rallied, although they still trailed at halftime, then outscored Bard 44-25 in the second half en route to a comfortable 73-56 victory.
Box score
Still, it must have been quite a discussion between coaches and players in the Skidmore locker room at halftime. Statistically, the best defensive team in the league - Skidmore - trailed the worst offensive team in the league - Bard - 31-29 at the break.
But the second half was an entirely different story. Bard, which shot 46 percent in the first half, was held to 24 percent in the second half. At the same time, Skidmore went from 31 percent in the first half to a scalding 56 percent in the second half.
The Thoroughbreds (9-2 overall, 3-0 Liberty League) outrebounded Bard in the second half, 23-15, after being outrebounded by the smaller Raptors in the first half, 20-19. And Skidmore collected seven of its eight blocked shots in the final 20 minutes.
The lead only changed hands once in this game. Bard led from the start until 77 seconds had elapsed in the second half, and that's when Skidmore took over and never looked back.
Skidmore got 17 points, eight rebounds and two blocks from senior Melvis Langyintuo (Tamale, Ghana), 14 points from senior John Mantas (Niskayuna, NY), 11 points and six rebounds from senior Gerard O'Shea (West Sand Lake, NY), and 10 points and five assists from senior Terron Victoria (Albany, NY).
Skidmore, which won the Liberty League championship last season and went to the NCAA Tournament, next plays at RPI on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Bard (3-7, 1-1) was led by
Matt Shubert, who had 16 points and five rebounds.
Yonah Greenstein added 11 points, and Francis Arnold contributed 10 points and five rebounds. The Raptors take on Union Saturday on the road at 4 p.m.
