ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Bard College men's basketball team began 2018 with a convincing win over St. Lawrence University Friday evening, topping the Liberty League foe, 80-63.

The Raptors lead for nearly the entire contest, as the hosts were in front for 39:32 out of a possible 40 minutes. The other 28 seconds ... were the opening seconds of the game with the score tied 0-0.

Bard (3-7, 1-2 Liberty League) came out of the gate on fire, showing no signs of a holiday break hangover. The Raptors tallied the first 13 points of the game, building a 15-3 advantage on 6-of-6 shooting over the opening five minutes. 

The Saints of St. Lawrence (2-8, 0-3 LL) kept the game within reach over the next five minutes, before Bard used a 15-2 run to blow the game wide open late in the first half, 42-18.

The Raptors entered the midway break with a 44-24 lead.

Following the intermission, Bard looked like it would pickup right where it left off, as the hosts scored the first four points of the second half to extend the lead to a game-high 24 points. 

However, the Saints wouldn't go down without a fight. Over the next ten minutes, the visitors were able to chip into the lead, getting Bard's lead down to just six points with 7:42 remaining. 

The Raptors held their composure though, ripping off a 17-4 run that was punctuated by a thunderous Alijah Rue to Justyn Rogers alley-oop dunk.

From there, Bard cruised to the finish line, securing its first-ever victory against St. Lawrence in men's basketball. 

Rogers led the Raptors with a game-high 20 points. John Miller added 14 points off the bench, while Emmanuel Oyakhilome tallied 13 points and David Runcie finished with 10 points.

Ben Crawford (Framingham, MA) recorded 17 points and nine rebounds for the Saints in the loss.

Up next for the Raptors is a home contest with Clarkson University tomorrow (1/6) at  4 p.m. You can follow that game right here.