ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. — Senior Heston Tucker scored a career-high 22 points to lead the Bard College men's basketball team to a 64-62 win against RIT in both teams' Liberty League opener at Stevenson Athletic Center. 

Bard (3-1, 1-0 Liberty League) led as much as 17 points in the first half but had to fight back in the second half as RIT (2-3, 0-1) took an eight-point lead with 10 minutes left in the game. Junior Sean Wilcox's layup with 2:44 remaining tied the game at 56-56 and was a key moment for the Raptors. 

The Raptors had three players with double-digit points, with Tucker leading the team on 22 points and zero turnovers, shooting a career-high 10-of-12 from the field and adding two rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Senior Lazaros Panagioutounis had his third double-digit point game with 13. He went 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and added a steal. 

Senior Elliot Harris had 10 points, three boards, an assist, and a steal, while fellow senior Azriel Almodovar had a team-high nine rebounds and four assists. Sophomore Connor Melis grabbed a career-high eight rebounds and added three assists. Wilcox added six points, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Senior Cory Dennis had his first start of the season and added six points, two steals, and an assist. 

Bard opened the scoring with three consecutive threes and shot 50 percent from the field and from behind the three-point line. The Raptors led by 14 points entering halftime. In the second half, RIT came out with a mission and went on a 12-0 run until Tucker made a jumper at 15:03 to stop the drought. The Tigers hit back-to-back three-pointers to take a six point lead with 11 minutes left in the game. 

Head Coach Dave Slaon called a timeout as RIT extended its lead to eight points at 10:37. Bard came back out and went on a 13-2 run, including a steal and a dunk from Tucker at 6:42 to give the Raptors a 52-49 lead. The Tigers again hit back-to-back three to take a 55-52 lead. The Raptors then went on a 9-1 run to secure a 61-56 lead with 47 seconds left. 

RIT drained a three with 35 seconds left to reduce the deficit to two points. Tucker then maid a pair of free throws to bring back the lead to four. With less than eight seconds left, the Tigers hit a fast-break three-pointer to cut the deficit to one. RIT fouled Panagioutounis with six seconds left and the senior made one free throw, and with less than a second left, RIT's Brando Weiss heaved up a three-pointer that almost bounced in for the win, but the Raptors survived the late scare to earn the victory.

Bard will be right back in action tomorrow at Stevenson Athletic Center when the team takes on Ithaca at 4:00 p.m.