NEWBURGH, N.Y. - The Bard College men's basketball team outlasted Mount Saint Mary College Tuesday night, 71-63, beating the Knights for just the second time in 12 games since the beginning of the 2006-07 season.

During the first game back from the Thanksgiving break, Bard appeared to have zero hangover whatsoever from the holiday ... for the first 33 minutes of the game that is. 

But over the final seven minutes of the game, it looked like all the turkey and stuffing finally began to set in.

From the opening tip, Bard (2-3) was in attack mode. The first two shot attempts of the game for the Raptors were three pointers and that trend of three's continued throughout the night. Bard finished only 6-26 from long distance, but the attacking mentality lifted Bard early in the game. 

After falling behind midway through the first half, 15-14, Bard dominated the Knights (1-2) over the next 20 plus minutes until midway through the second half, when the Raptors lead by the score of 63-39. During that run for Bard, which began with 9:41 remaining in the first half and ended with 7:37 remaining in the second half, the Raptors outscored the Knights, 49-24. 

However, it wasn't all gravy for the Raptors throughout the game. Over the final seven minutes, they were outscored 24-8. Fortunately for Bard, such a substantial lead had been built earlier in the night, the team was about to escape with the win. 

The ending of the game will certainly not please coach Adam Turner, but the first three-fourths of the game were really impressive for the Raptors. In fact, the team set a new program record with 56 rebounds in the game, 20 of which were offensive. The record 56 rebounds nearly doubled Mount Saint Mary's total of 29. 

While the ending field goal percentage of 44 percent is respectable, the Raptors actually shot a much higher percentage for most of the night, hovering around 50 percent until they went cold late in the second half. When you compare that to the Knights, who barely finished at 30 percent for the evening, the Raptors have quite a bit to be happy about.

As for individual statistics, Bard had four in double figures and was led on the night by sophomore Merritt Miller, who finished with a career-high 18 points. Chris Lockwood had 12 points, Christopher Rogers finished with 11 points and Harry Johnson chipped in 10 points for the Raptors. David Runcie tied a season-high with 11 rebounds.

Gerard Nocera (Holmdel, NJ) and Connor Bacci (Bayside, NY) each tallied 11 points to lead the Knights. 

The Bard College men's basketball team will return to action, December 1st, as the team travels to Oneonta to take on Hartwick College at 7 p.m. You can follow that game right here via Live Video and Live Stats.