SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – A second half push was not enough for the Hartwick men's basketball team to pick up their first win of the year, as they were dropped on the road by Skidmore, 71-54. The Hawks fall to 0-5 on the season, while the Thoroughbreds remain undefeated at 4-0.
The teams started out even in the early going, tied at five-all two minutes in. Liam Drennan (Oyster Bay, NY/Chaminade) opened Hartwick's ledger with a nifty left-handed hook shot, and Cooper Francis' (Lynbrook, NY/Chaminade) shot from deep accounted for the Hawks' other points. 'Wick went cold for a bit after that, allowing the Thoroughbreds to take a 10-5 lead with 15:10 gone by. The Hawks went on a mini run soon after, however, scoring the next seven points (including five more from Drennan). A Skidmore lay-up re-knotted the game up at 12 before a deep Nick Eiler (Highland Mills, NY/Saddle River Day) two, Kevin Felasco (Liverpool, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) jumper, and driving Cooper Francis' (Lynbrook, NY/Chaminade) lay-up put the Hawks up by six with 11:33 remaining.
Hartwick's lead saw eight prior to seven straight Skidmore points. A strong take from Eiler bumped the lead back up to three, but Tautvydas Kupstas' second-chance three (his fourth of the half) on the other end gave us a 22-22 tie with 7:02 on the clock. Kupstas pilfered the ball a couple Hartwick possessions later and saw nothing but open court in front of him, rising for the fast-break dunk and the lead. A Drennan lay-up put the score at 24-all a minute later, and the teams continued to trade buckets for the next few minutes – including a shot-clock-buzzer-beating Nick Bantis (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) trey to put the score at 29-apiece with 3:23 remaining. Skidmore got the better of the final three minutes, though, scoring the half's final eight points for a 37-29 lead after 20. Kupstas hit a three-pointer with seven seconds to go, giving him 19 points on 7-of-13 from the field and 5-of-7 from deep at the break.
The first few minutes of the second half were characterized by a lack of offense, as a Skidmore lay-up was the only bucket in the first 180 seconds. Francis hit a lay-up 3:14 in before a Greg Skoric three and Harrison Eichelberger lay-up put the scoreboard at 44-31. Andrew Rocci (Hanover, MA/Hanover) briefly interrupted Skidmore's party with a Francis-assisted lay-up on a backdoor cut, but a Skoric dunk and two Eichelberger free throws made it 48-33 with 13:16 on the clock. Drennan and Kupstas traded buckets prior to a Skidmore timeout with 11:28 on the clock and the Thoroughbreds leading by 15, 50-35.
Kupstas and Skoric connected for a vicious alley-oop dunk about a minute later, and from there the Hawks began to make their move. Rocci assisted a Felasco three, and then Francis had the next six points to cut the Skidmore advantage to 52-44. 'Wick had a few chances to come even closer on their next possession, but a turnover ultimately led to a Skoric fast-break slam with 7:40 remaining. The sides would trade the next few buckets leading up to two more Kupstas threes for a 62-48 lead with 4:02 on the clock (he finished with 29 points). That just about did it, as the Thoroughbreds put it in cruise control for the remainder of the evening.
Francis was the Hawks' leader on the evening, scoring 15 on 6-of-11 from the field and grabbing nine rebounds. Drennan had 13 points on an efficient 6-of-7 performance, as well as five boards and three assists.
The team statistics were remarkably close for a 17-point score differential. Skidmore outshot the Hawks 42.2% to 36.7% from the field and 35.5% to 27.8% from three, and narrowly outrebounded their visitors 41-37. Turnovers were even at just nine apiece (although the Thoroughbreds had 10 points off turnovers to Hartwick's two). It seems the biggest difference in the contest was the home side's slim advantage in a few categories as well as just getting more shots up than 'Wick (64 to 60 overall and 31 to 18 from three).
'Wick is back in action on Sunday, as they travel down I-88 to Division I SUNY Binghamton for an exhibition matchup. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
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