ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - Bard made a whopping 65 percent of its shots in the first half of Saturday's game against Sage, including 8-of-12 from beyond the three-point line. It's been a long time since a Bard team has shot that well over the course of 20 minutes.

There was one problem, though.

Sage shot 69 percent from the field over those same 20 minutes, with most of their points coming in the paint.

That's how it started, and that's how it ended. Sage defeated Bard, 77-67, by shooting 58 percent from the floor and finishing with a 40-20 edge in points in the paint.

Box score

The game was tight early. Sage was capitalizing on its size advantage by scoring repeatedly down low, and Bard was raining three-pointers from just about everywhere. Over the first 10 minutes, the game was tied twice before Sage started to slowly creep ahead.

A Sage lead that grew to 10 points with 5:33 left in the half was eliminated by a 10-0 Bard run, but the Gators (4-4) still led 45-38 at the break.

Bard (2-6) cut the lead to four in the first 30 seconds of the second half, but never got closer. Sage extended the league a few times, and it grew to 15 points with 10:37 left. The Raptors made one more push, and the edge was trimmed to 58-51 on a dunk by freshman Siondueh Burnette ... but Sage responded. The Gators pushed the lead back up to 17 before winning by 10.

The Gators got 17 points and eight rebounds from Dalton Austin-Michaud (Valatie, NY), and 13 points apiece from Pat Lanoue (Troy, NY) and Matt Farbotko (Rouses Point, NY).

The Raptors were led by Burnette, who had 13 points, Francis Arnold, who added 12, and sophomore Alvaro Llanes, who was hot off the bench for the second game in a row, scoring 11 points in just 11 minutes. Senior Yonah Greenstein finished with nine points and a game-high five assists.

Bard doesn't play against until Jan. 10, when it makes its Liberty League debut at Vassar College at 8 p.m.