CANTON, N.Y. - The Bard College men's basketball team suffered its first Liberty League loss of the season Friday night, falling in a close contest, 82-77 at St. Lawrence University. 

The defeat dropped the Raptors to 6-4 overall on the season and 2-1 in league play. As for the Saints of St. Lawrence, the hosts improved to 6-5 overall and 3-1 in the Liberty League. 

In typical Liberty League fashion, the contest was a close slugfest throughout. Neither side possessed a lead greater than nine points during the contest and both squads had the lead on multiple occasions. 

The Saints struck first on the night, as they jumped out to an early lead. The hosts maintained control until Bard surged ahead on a three pointer from Justyn Rogers, taking its first lead, 20-19, with 12:51 remaining in the first half. The Bard advantage was short lived however, as St. Lawrence immediately responded with a three of its own on the next trip down the court. 

From there, the Saints continued to control the action and build on their lead, eventually grabbing the biggest advantage of the night, up 37-28, with a little over six minutes left in the opening frame. The Raptors were not fazed though. Over the next five minutes, the guests rallied back to tie the contest at 42-42, before a pair of buckets put St. Lawrence up four points at halftime. 

The second half started just as the first had ended, with the two squads trading points and rallies back-and-forth. Every time Bard got close by making it a one possession contest, the Saints responded with a score of their own to push the lead back up.

That narrative was finally broken by Bard over a four-minute run early in the second half, as the Raptors scored 11 straight points to flip a six-point deficit into a 60-55 lead with 12:22 left in the game.

After the two sides traded three pointers, St. Lawrence began to collect itself once more and ripped off a 12-0 run to regain the lead at 70-63 with just under seven minutes left.

That seemed as if it might be the dagger to the heart for the Raptors, but the young squad showed resilience until the end. Just a few minutes later, Bard had cut the deficit to a single point, down 72-71 with 3:51 left, but that was as close as the Raptors could get the rest of the contest.

On the night, the two squads were nearly identical in all the major categories. The Saints shot slightly better at 45 percent to Bard's 42 percent, but rebounds were just 44-42 in St. Lawrence's favor. Meanwhile, Bard turned the ball over just 10 times, while the hosts finished with 13 turnovers. 

The only major discrepancy on the score sheet came in the form of free throws. And unfortunately for Bard, it was heavily skewed in favor of St. Lawrence. The Saints finished the game 21-of-30 from the free throw line. The Raptors meanwhile, only shot 17 free throws and sank just eight of them. 

Individually, it was a balanced offensive performance for Bard. Five players finished with double-digit point totals, as David Runcie and Armando Dunn tied for the team lead with 19 points apiece. Rogers added 17 points, while Alijah Rue and Jelani Bell-Isaac tallied 10 points apiece. 

For St. Lawrence, it was the Riley Naclerio (Cohoes, NY) show. He finished the night with 30 points, six rebounds and three blocks in the winning effort.

Up next for the Raptors is a quick turnaround, as the team takes on Clarkson University tomorrow (January 5th) on the road at 4 p.m. You can follow that game here.