NEWBURGH, N.Y. - Reminiscent of Bard's last game, a victory over Johnson State College, the Raptors came out firing on Tuesday night against Mount Saint Mary College.

Bard made three of its first five shots, including a pair of three-pointers, and they were handling the Knights' pressure effectively enough.

Slowly, Mount Saint Mary took control. First it was a trickle ... then it was a flood. The Knights pressured Bard into 29 turnovers and won in a rout, 78-44, in a non-conference game.

Box score

It certainly didn't look like it was going to be a blowout midway through the first half. A put-back by sophomore Awet Woldeselassie cut a modest Mount Saint Mary lead to three, 13-10, with 10:32 remaining until halftime.

Over those last 10 minutes, however, Bard missed five of six field goals and turned the ball over eight times. The three-point lead grew to 15 by halftime, as the Raptors didn't score over the last 6:28 of the first stanza.

A few minutes into the second half, a free throw by freshman Siondueh Burnette cut the edge to 11, but that was as close as the Raptors would get. The Knights (3-1) went 6-of-8 from the beyond the three-point line in the second half and cruised to a win, shooting almost 50 percent from the field.

Not since the 2009-10 season had Bard committed as many as 29 turnovers in a game - Feb. 10, 2010 to be exact - when they turned it over 34 times in a loss to Mount St. Vincent.

Mount Saint Mary got 12 points, 12 rebounds and four steals from 6-foot-7 senior Carlos Valdez (Carolina, Puerto Rico), and 12 points from 6-foot-5 senior Kevin Milella (Floral Park, N.Y.). The Knights open Skyline Conference play on Thursday at SUNY Purchase.

Bard (1-3) didn't have any players reach double figures in scoring or rebounding. The Raptors got nine points and six rebounds from freshman Francis Arnold, and nine points and five rebounds from Burnette. Junior Frank Stortini led the team with nine rebounds.

Bard next hosts Albany College of Pharmacy on Thursday at 7 p.m.