ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - In their first conference game of the season, the Bard College men's basketball team suffered an 85-68 defeat to Ithaca College Friday evening.

Following a 4-4 score early in the first, the Bombers (3-1, 1-0 LL) went on an 8-0 run to take a 12-4 lead, eventually tacking on even more as they built a 13 point lead midway through the half. Despite 10 first half points from freshman guard Elliot Harris and eight from sophomore forward Avo Sofroniou, the Raptors (0-6, 0-1 LL) were unable to gain much momentum and went into the intermission trailing by a score of 51-31.

Bard then started to cut away at Ithaca's lead in the second half, as sophomore forward Stamatis Koulouris started to heat up. Koulouris scored 14 second half points and finished with a team-high 18 on the night, but the Raptors couldn't close the gap against a strong Bomber team, dropping an 85-68 decision to the visitors.

Koulouris came up just short of a double-double, finishing with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Harris scored 17 and grabbed five boards. Sofroniou chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds, and freshman guard Stefanos Psarras scored eight points and picked up eight rebounds.

The Raptors are back in action Saturday, Dec. 7, as they continue Liberty League play with a home matchup against Hobart College. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.