SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Senior Mike Manley scored 12 points to become the 25th player in program history to record 1,000 points, but Union College's balanced effort came up just short in a 74-67 loss to Skidmore College in Liberty League men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Viniar Athletic Center.
 
Manley was one of four players in double figures and reached the four-digit plateau on a pair of free throws with 9:21 left in the second half. He added a game-high six assists and three rebounds as well for Union (3-16, 2-10 Liberty League).
 
Junior Edward Baptiste led the team with a career-high 18 points to go with six rebounds, followed by senior Brian Noone with 15 points and six caroms. Classmate Mike Concannon also reached double figures with 12 points off the bench.
 
Skidmore (10-9, 8-4 Liberty League) was led by the tandem of Tautvydas Kupstas and Greg Skoric. Kupstas led all players with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while Skoric dominated in the paint with 18 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.
  
Skoric hit a layup on the team's opening possession and Skidmore maintained an advantage for the entirety of the opening frame. The visitors led by as many as seven after a Riley Greene layup with 5:21 left put Skidmore up 18-11, but Baptiste immediately responded by hitting jumpers on each of Union's next three times down the floor to shrink the lead to one in just 63 seconds. After a brief Skidmore run, Concannon hit a three in the final seconds to make the score 27-24 in favor of the visitors after 20 minutes.

The first half saw neither team shot the ball particularly well, with both teams hitting 11 field goals on 33 and 34 shots, respectively.
 
The Thoroughbreds maintained an advantage for the first six minutes of the second stanza, even though Union got within a point on five separate occasions. The home team finally broke through with under 12 minutes left, with a layup by junior Abood Abuissa and a pair of Concannon freebies putting Union up 46-45 with 11:16 on the clock. Two more Concannon free throws started a 6-0 run that included Manley's 1,000th point and gave the team a 52-48 lead with 8:56 remaining.
 
The lead did not last long, however, as Skidmore rattled off eight straight points as part of a 13-2 run that put the visitors back up by a 61-54 score with 3:38 left. Union got back within a possession twice, but a key layup by Kupstas with 39 ticks remaining and four free throws down the stretch were enough to escape with the win.
 
After tough shooting in the first half, Skidmore was an efficient 15-of-25 in the second stanza, including 6-of-11 from long range, and also hit 11-of-13 attempts from the line to pull out the victory. Union also was excellent from the line, hitting 12-of-13 attempts in the second half, and shot 46.8 percent (15 of 32) in the second stanza to finish the game at 40.0 percent from the field.
 
After spending the last three weeks at home, Union will venture back onto the road next weekend for another conference weekend, beginning on Friday with a 7:30 p.m. matchup at Ithaca College.