ARLINGTON, N.Y. – The Bard men's basketball team took down Mt. St. Mary in the opening day of the Hudson Valley Classic, 72-56, hosted by Vassar. 

Bard had three players in double-digits, with Rowan Heinze leading the charge with 18 points and shooting 8-of-12 from the field. Heinze added seven rebounds. Lazaros Panagiotounis added 11 points to keep his streak of double-digit points in each game. Ahmad Rauf scored a career-high 11 points and added six rebounds with no turnovers. Recent Liberty League Honor Roll honoree Azriel Almodovar had a team-high eight rebounds and added four points while dishing out four assists. 

The first-year class stepped up tonight, with Joshua Bayne leading the group with a career-high six points and three assists. Max Frei was tied for the team-high of four assists and added five rebounds, two steals and two points. Bayne and Frei were efficient on the court as they had the top 2 plus-minuses, with Frei +15 and Bayne +14. Jalen Umstead grabbed five boards, while Seth Dyer, Luke Ravitz and Frei added two points each. Azikiwe Cuffy-Scott got seven minutes and totaled four rebounds and two points. 

Mt. St. Mary took the lead in the game's first seven minutes, but at 13:48, the Raptors went on a 9-0 run to take an 18-10 lead halfway through the first half. The Knights fought their way back and were within four points of Bard with eight minutes left to go, until the Raptors went on a  13-4 run. Bard shot 43.8% from the field, as Heinze went 3-for-3 FG and 2-of-3 from the free-throw line. Mt. St. Mary struggled offensively, shooting 3-of-15 from behind the arc and 9-of-30 from the field. 

In the second half, Bard held MSMC to 2-of-16 from behind the arc (12.5 percent), but that did not prevent the Knights from scoring 13 points off the Raptors' eight turnovers. Heinze kept his momentum from the first half, went 5-of-9 from the field, and had 10 points. Bard held Mt. St. Mary to four points for the first six minutes of the second half as the Raptors went on a 14-4 run. The Knights could not reduce the deficit to single digits in the second half. 

Bard will play New Paltz tomorrow at 6 p.m. for its first home game of the season. The Raptors will host the second day of the Hudson Valley Classic, with Vassar taking on Mt. St. Mary at 4 p.m.