Box Score
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Bard College men's basketball team fended off Maritime College, 75-66, on Saturday in the Raptors' last non-league game of the season.

All that's left now is the 16-game gauntlet that is Liberty League play. Those games will be played over the course of 40 days starting on Jan. 14, when RPI comes to town.

Until then, Bard can take pride is knowing that at 5-4, it has already eclipsed last year's win total and is above .500 in January for the first time since 2004.

That isn't to say there was any celebration on Saturday. In fact, the reaction would best be described as workmanlike, because anyone who has ever spent any time around this team knows that Liberty League victories are what they're after, and nothing else.

Bard was down as much as nine in the first half on Saturday and trailed, 37-35, at the break. The Raptors opened the second half on a 16-1 tear, pushed the bulge to as much as 18, then held off a late Privateer rally which cut the deficit to seven a couple of times down the stretch.

The run to start the second half was the result of renewed defensive intensity, led by freshman Harry Johnson. Johnson was assigned to guard Maritime junior Sean Corley (Harlem, N.Y.), who had 11 points and eight rebounds at halftime. With Johnson pestering him, Corley managed just three shots in the second half, and sat for eight minutes with foul trouble. He managed just five points and two rebounds after halftime.

At the same time, Bard was handling Maritime's press and getting scoring from everybody who went out there. Senior Lamar Powell led the way with 15 second-half points, including 10-of-11 from the foul line, and he finished with 26 points and seven assists. Brandon Cunningham added 10 points and five rebounds in just 10 minutes of action; Siondueh Burnette chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds, and Johnson scored eight points, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.

The Raptors also got efficent minutes from Jeffrey Jordan and Garrett Clifton, and everyone who played on Saturday scored.

Corley's 16 points and 10 rebounds led the Privateers (2-7). Bobby Parlow (Bay Head, NY), Brendon Halligan (Durham, NY) and Kevin Heine (Frederick, MD) added 11 points apiece.

Bard is off until that Jan. 14 date with RPI. The Raptors have won three conference games since joining the Liberty League in 2011, but haven't beaten anyone other than Vassar so far.