ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - After starting the Liberty League portion of their schedule by winning two out of three road games last week, the Bard College men's basketball team raised some eyebrows.

Just as surprising as Bard's start was Rensselaer's. The Engineers came to Bard on Tuesday night 0-4 in league play.

They left 1-4 in the league play. Bard fell to 2-2 in the Liberty League and 7-6 overall as RPI led wire-to-wire and beat the Raptors, 67-54.

Bard was chasing the game all night. RPI jumped out to a 9-2 lead, saw Bard tie it, then regained the lead and never relinquished it. They shot 52 percent from the field in the first half and 50 percent for the game, as their motion offense created numerous back-door cuts for layups, and pick-and-rolls for layups, too.

On the offensive side, Bard hung in there but never seemed to get comfortable. At halftime the Raptors were down nine, 33-24, thanks in large part to 15 points off of seven Bard turnovers for RPI.

Bard scored the first two field goals of the second half to cut the lead to five, but RPI just ran away. Junior Chase Almond (South Kingstown, RI) had 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half, and the Engineers handed out 10 of their 16 assists in the last 20 minutes and were never challenged. Tyler Gendron (Merrimac, NH) added 11 points for the winners.

Bard got 18 points, six rebounds and three assists from freshman DeVahnte Mosley, and 12 points and four rebounds from senior Siondueh Burnette.

The Raptors go back on the road this weekend, and it's a long trip. They'll play at RIT on Friday night at 8, then at Hobart on Saturday afternoon at 2. You can follow both games right here.