SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - The Union College men's basketball team built a big first-half lead and cruised to a 83-56 victory over Bard College in a Liberty League game on Friday night.

Bard (2-13 overall, 0-6 Liberty League) never led. Union improved to 7-7 and 3-3.

The Dutchmen made seven of their first 10 shots to take an early lead, then put together a 14-2 run to extend a five-point lead to 17. At that point the hosts were shooting 70 percent from the field. Union cooled off eventually, but the Bard deficit at halftime remained 17, 43-26.

The Raptors made a couple of pushes early in the second half, trimming the gap to 13 points twice, but Union responded each time and won the game going away.

The Dutchmen were led by Deshon Burgess (Scottdale, GA), who had 21 points, and Wade McNamara (East Lyme, CT), who had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Bard got 14 points and six rebounds from Chris Lockwood, 11 points from Harry Johnson, and nine points and four rebounds from Armando Dunn.

Up next for Bard is a Liberty League game at Skidmore on Saturday afternoon. Follow it live right here.