FRANKLIN, Mass. - It's unusual for both teams to hold big leads at different points in the same basketball game, but that's what happened on Saturday when Bard and Rhode Island College met in the Bulldog Tip-Off Tournament at Dean College.

In the end, it was Bard that hung on to its lead, fighting off the Anchormen, 78-68, in a frantically-paced, foul-filled neutral site contest. The Raptors will play host Dean on Saturday at 2 in the championship game.

RIC came into the game unbeaten at 3-0, and they jumped on the 0-1 Raptors, taking a 13-3 lead with barely five minutes gone. But Bard hung in there, as Coach Adam Turner went to his bench early and often to get something going. A couple of players came off the bench to spark the comeback. A three-pointer from Wynn Miller cut the deficit to 15-11, and a layup by Avgoustinos Sofroniou tightened the gap to 19-17.

Bard took a brief lead - its first of the game - with 5:45 left in the first half, but RIC grabbed it right back. The Raptors trailed, 31-30, with 3:25 to go before a switch suddenly flipped.

Led by sophomore Alijah Rue, Bard finished the half on an 11-2 run - nine of those points coming from Rue. It was 41-33 at halftime. But somehow, Bard's frenzied defensive effort and running offense maintained its momentum through halftime, and the Raptors scored the first 13 points of the second half. It was 54-33 with 14:25 left in the game.

RIC wasn't done, however. The Anchormen put together a 20-4 run to cut the lead to 58-53 with 7:18 remaining. It was a game again. And Bard's bench, as well as Rue, came to the rescue again.

Zack Jacobs buried a huge three-pointer on Bard's next possession to push the lead back to eight, and Rue scored six of Bard's next nine points. RIC never got over the hump and Bard won by 10.

Rue led Bard with 22 points, and he added seven rebounds and four assists. Senior Armando Dunn had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Jacobs scored 10 of his 12 points off the bench in the second half, and added four assists. David Runcie contributed 10 points and six rebounds; Justyn Rogers had eight points and nine rebounds, and freshman Stamatis Koulouris added six points and nine rebounds. Bard's rebounding advantage was 56-38.

Dean defeated Pine Manor, 97-75, in the tournament's first game. You can follow Sunday's championship game live right here.