ONEONTA, N.Y. - The 13-player roster has eight underclassmen, and two probable 1,000-point scorers are no longer with the program. So the Bard College men's basketball team has been trying to figure things out. What kind of team are they? Who are the go-to guys down the stretch?
It's still a work in progress, and more growing pains were felt on Thursday night, as the Raptors lost at Hartwick, 69-57, to fall to 2-4.
A 9-1 run in the first half kept it close, and a 13-2 run in the second half tied it with 10 minutes left. But when Bard went back into its pocket for one more run, its pockets were empty and Hartwick is now 5-2.
Bard has been 'in' all four of its losses late:
Down two vs. Sage with eight minutes left, lost by 16.
Down six vs. Scranton with 10 minutes left, lost by 23.
Down one vs. Wesleyan with two minutes left, lost by eight.
Down one vs. Hartwick with six minutes left, lost by 12.
It's a product of Bard's collective youth. There no doubt, though, that Bard's toughened non-league schedule is going to hasten the group's growth. It needs to. Trinity is coming to Annandale on Saturday.
On Thursday night, the Raptors were down six at halftime, then didn't score for the first five minutes of the second half. But they followed that with a 13-2 run, culminating with an old-fashioned three-point play from
Chris Lockwood, and it was 45-45 with 10:03 remaining. From there, the Raptors went almost four minutes without a point, and then scored just nine points in the final five minutes, allowing the Hawks to slip away.
Joey Lufkin (Argyle, NY) led four Hartwick players in double figures with 17 points.
One area Bard probably doesn't have to worry about is rebounding. After collecting a program record 56 boards in Tuesday night's win at Mount St. Mary, Bard outrebounded Hartwick 55-32, including 25 on the offensive glass. But 16 turnovers and missing more free throws than they made (7-for-15) didn't help.
David Runcie had a double-double with 17 points, 10 boards and four steals;
Jelani Bell-Isaac added nine points and 11 rebounds.
Tip-off vs. Trinity on Saturday is at two. Follow it via Live Stats or Live Video right here.
