Box Score
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - On Tuesday night, with Vassar in town, Bard needed to hit a lot of three-pointers.

Check. They made 13.

They needed to stay out of foul trouble, especially early.

Check. Everybody finished the game.

They needed to just stay close in rebounding margin, because Vassar came into the game with a distinct size advantage due to a couple of Bard injuries.

Check. Bard was outrebounded, 38-30.

They needed a big crowd to carry them through the game, and to create a hostile environment for the visiting Brewers.

Check. The Stevenson Athletic Center was throbbing with noise thanks to the "Bird Gang," a large group of students who have become a fixture at the men's basketball games.

Finally, Bard had to avoid the scoreless streaks that have plagued them down the stretch in more than a few Liberty League games this season.

Oops. No check.

Bard went scoreless for almost eight minutes, and Vassar took full advantage. The 13-0 run ended with 2:33 left in the game, and although Bard put together a furious rally late, the Brewers survived, 79-75.

This was a nail-biter from start to finish. Bard held a lead for much of the first half, but it never exceeded six, and it was tied, 36-36, at halftime. Both teams shot 48 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes and Bard went 7-for-14 from beyond the three-point line.

Bard got up five a couple of times in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but Vassar always responded, drawing even a couple of times. Bard led, 57-53, with 10:14 to go, and that's when the game changed.

Bard went 0-for-7 with a turnover and three missed foul shots over the next 7:41, and Vassar's 13-0 run made it 66-57 with 2:33 to go. It got worse over the next minute, and Vassar had its largest lead, 71-59, with 78 seconds left in the game.

And then the game changed again, to the delight of the Bird Gang. The Raptors went on an 8-0 run over 37 seconds,  the 12-point lead had amazingly shrunk to four and the bleachers at Bard were pulsating with dancing fans.

An old-fashioned three-point play by Vassar's Luka Ladan with 35 seconds left appeared the be the dagger, making it 74-67. It wasn't. A pair of Lamar Powell foul shots cut it to five, and after Otis Osman (Far Hills, NJ) made 1-of-2 free throws for Vassar, freshman Alex Fabean-Scotch hit a three-pointer from the corner to make it 75-72 with 10 seconds left.

Bard fouled Johnny Mrlik (San Francisco, CA), the best foul shooter in the conference, with eight seconds left and he made them both, seemingly putting the game away again, 77-72.  But Powell launched a long three and it went in, making it 77-75 with three seconds left.

Mrlik made another pair of free throws with two seconds left, and this time, the game was actually over.

The victory evened the Liberty League score between Vassar and Bard. Bard joined the league in 2011-12 and won the first three games of the series; Vassar has now won three in a row against the Raptors.

The winners got 22 points and six rebounds from Mrlik, 18 points from Ladan, and 15 points and five rebounds from Erikson Wasyl (Durham, CT). Vassar is 15-3 overall, 7-2 in the Liberty League.

Bard (5-12, 0-8 Liberty League) got 24 points from Powell and 18 from Fabean-Scotch. Siondueh Burnette added nine points, five rebounds and two blocks, and Pat Lichtenstein added six points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Up next for the Raptors is a Liberty League game at Hobart on Friday at 8. Follow the game live right here via Live Stats or Live Video.

NOTE: Prior to both the men's and women's basketball games, a moment of silence was observed for Sarah McCausland and Evelina Brown, Bard students who were killed by a hit-and-run drunk driver last weekend. Through a student initiative with Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), players, fans, coaches from both schools and event staff wore red ribbons. Also, both Bard basketball team had the initials S.M. and E.B. on their socks.