TROY, N.Y. - The Bard College men's basketball team outscored Rensselaer 25-8 to start the second half and cruised to a 63-53 victory on Tuesday night, the Raptors' first win over RPI since joining the Liberty League in 2011-12.

Bard has climbed its way to 6-8 in conference play in a most unusual way: Three straight wins, followed by eight straight losses, followed by three straight wins. With two games left in the regular season, nobody has been eliminated from playoff contention yet.

This game was decided in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Trailing 32-30 at halftime, Bard's defense suddenly was inpenetrable, and Bard's offense was suddenly unstoppable.

Harry Johnson made three consecutive three-pointers to key a run that grew from 10-2, to 18-5, and eventually to 25-8. Bard went 8-for-9 from the field in the first 10 minutes of the second half, including 4-for-4 from beyond the arc, and the two-point halftime deficit became an 11-point lead. It grew to 16 with four minutes left; RPI trimmed it to eight with two minutes left, but the Raptors went 7-for-8 from the foul line in the last two minutes to put it away.

While Bard was surging, RPI was struggling to find the good looks at the basket it enjoyed in the first half. The Engineers shot 52 percent from the field in the first half, and 32 percent in the second half. Freshman phenom Tom Horvat (Cranston, RI), who torched Bard for 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting in the first 20 minutes, had three points while the game was still in doubt in the second half. He tacked on some late jumpers to finish with 28, but the Engineers fell to 10-11 overall, 4-8 in the Liberty League.

Johnson had 15 of his career-high 20 points in the second half, to go with five rebounds and three steals. He made 5-of-7 threes. DeVahnte Mosley added 11 points, four rebounds and five steals, and Armando Dunn had 10 points, all in the first half. Bard is 9-14, 6-8.

Both of Bard's remaining games are next week. The Raptors will play at Vassar on Feb. 17, then host RPI on Feb. 19. Follow both games live right here.