SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – The RIT men's basketball team (5-5, 1-0 Liberty League), eager to open up Liberty League play, picked up an important 84-71 victory against Skidmore (6-4, 1-1 Liberty League), the defending Liberty League tournament champions, on Friday evening.
 
Kamron Davis (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham) led the way on offense for the Tigers, scoring 23 points on 8-for-12 shooting, adding six rebounds. A.J. Horde added 21 points, going 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. Miguel Lopez (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/St. Francis) and Troy Pierre-Louis (Providence, RI/Berkshire School) each added 10 points.
 
RIT, second in the Liberty League in scoring offense and best in field goal percentage coming into the contest, managed to shoot almost 56 percent from the field and went to the foul line 26 times, draining 19 to shoot 73 percent.
 
Erik Sanders led the Thoroughbreds with 22 points, who shot 38 percent from the field.
 
The victory improved the Tigers record to 6-7 all-time against the Thoroughbreds. Last season, Skidmore swept all three games against RIT, including a victory in the Liberty League Semifinal. The Tigers also start off Liberty League play with a win for the first time since joining the conference in the 2011-12 season.
 
"To win on the road to start Liberty League play was very important, but it's only the beginning," said RIT men's basketball head coach Bob McVean. "We moved the ball really well tonight and got contributions from our bench. When we get balanced scoring, it really helps us."
 
The Tigers took control early, leading wire-to-wire. Leading 10-9 midway through the first, RIT went on a 17-5 run, stretching the lead to 27-14. After a small rally by the Thoroughbreds, Anthony Lewis (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) drove through the lane, finding Davis in the paint for the lay-in with 10 seconds remaining in the half, pushing the lead back to seven, at 37-30.
 
Skidmore began chipping away at the Tiger lead in the second half. After a 10-3 run brought the game to its closest point, at 67-61 with 5:53 to go, Alex Wightman (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge) slammed home a dunk on the next possession on a feed by Miguel Lopez (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/St. Francis) to push the lead back to eight. From there, RIT made clutch free throws to preserve the victory.
 
The Tigers will continue their brief road trip with a Saturday afternoon matchup against Rensselaer (7-5, 1-2 Liberty League) at 4 p.m.