Never quitting, the Skidmore College men's basketball team battled top-ranked Middlebury College for 40 minutes before falling 64-59 in non-league action Friday night at the Williamson Sports Center.
 
The Thoroughbreds take a 4-2 record into the semester break, while the Panthers remain unbeaten at 7-0.
 
Brian Lowry led three Skidmore players in double figures with 13 points. Terron Victoria and Gerard O'Shea had 12 each with O'Shea adding six assists.   Connor Merrill had eight points and four blocks off the bench.
 
Middlebury's Ryan Sharry and Joey Kizel combined for 42 of their team's 64 points. Sharry scored a game-high 24 points and had 14 rebounds, four blocks and four steals. Kizel had 18 points, hitting 10-of-11 free throws.
 
The game featured nine lead changes, including seven in the first half.  
 
Skidmore took an early 2-0 lead, but the Panthers used five quick points by Sharry to take a 5-2 lead.  Sharry scored his team's first 10 points as the Panthers scratched out an early 12-8 lead with 13:07 to play.   The Thoroughbreds retook the lead, 19-17, on a Victoria jumper at 6:31. Neither team lead by more than three the rest of the half, with the score tied 30-30 at the break.
 
Skidmore led by three twice over the first six minutes of the second half.  Middlebury regained the lead for good, 44-42 with 11:44 to play on a Kizel jumper.  The Thoroughbreds kept the Panthers within two possessions for the next 11 minutes, until a made free throw by Jake Wolfin gave Middlebury a 60-53 lead with 28.5 seconds to play. 
 
Victoria hit a three with 24 seconds left, to make it 60-56, but Kizel hit both of his free throws with 12 seconds left to get it back to six, 62-56.  Brian Lowery hit another three with eight seconds left to cut the lead to 62-59.  Kizel went back to the line to hit another pair of free throws with four seconds left for the 64-59 final.  Kizel was 9-10 from the line over the final three minutes.
 
Middlebury came into the game shooting 50 percent from the floor, but Skidmore held the Panthers to 33.3 percent on 20-60 shooting.  
 
The Thoroughbreds are off until Dec. 29 when the team will face Merchant Marine in the D3hoops.com classic in Las Vegas. Middlebury return also returns to action on Dec. 29 when the Panthers host Curry College.