SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - Picked to finish last in the preseason Liberty League coaches poll, the Bard College men's basketball team has put considerable energy this winter into changing people's minds.
That's putting it mildly.
Not only is Bard in the playoff discussion, there have been times when the Raptors have been downright scary. Wednesday night was one of those times.
Bard made its first nine shots, raced out to a 20-0 lead, pushed it to a 37-point lead in the second half, and cruised to a 90-72 romp over Union - a team Bard edged by just five in Annandale 15 days ago.
It was reminiscent of the game against Clarkson last Friday, when Bard hit its first 11 shots to go up 28-5 en route to a 73-49 win.
Freshman
Stamatis Koulouris and senior
David Runcie did a lot of the damage early on Wednesday night. Koulouris scored the first five points of the game, went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in the first half, and had 11 points at the break. Runcie also went 3-for-3 from distance, added a dunk and had 17 at the break. In the first 20 minutes, Bard was 8-for-17 from three-point range, had 13 assists, six steals and a 26-15 rebounding advantage. It was 51-22 at halftime.
And they kept it going early in the second half, the Raptors grabbing their biggest lead, 70-33, with 12:32 left in the game. A 21-0 run by Union in the second half hardly moved the needle. The Dutchmen (8-10 overall, 4-8 Liberty League) never got closer than 16 in the second half.
In the end, Koulouris went 8-for-10 from the field, 6-for-7 from long range and finished with a career high 22 points. Runcie added 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting, and
Justyn Rogers narrowly missed a triple-double with 10 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists.
Alijah Rue added 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and
Jelani Bell-Isaac scored 10 points, giving Bard five players in double figures.
Bard is 7-5 in the Liberty League, in fourth place. Six teams make the playoffs. The Raptors are also 11-8 overall, and no Bard men's basketball team has ever won more than 11 games in a season.
Vassar comes to Annandale on Friday.
