ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. — The Bard College men's basketball team fell in a tightly contested matchup against New Paltz, 75-66, on Saturday evening, for their home opener at Stevenson Athletic Center. 

Bard took an 11-point lead with seven minutes left to go in the game, but a 32-14 surge by the defending SUNYAC Champions shut down the Raptors offense. Lazaros Panagiotounis led the team with his fifth 20+ point game of the season with 23 and added four rebounds. Rowan Heinze stayed hot from yesterday as he scored 19 points and added 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Heinze dished out a team-high five assists with no turnovers. Lucas Tovar had a career-high night as he scored six points, grabbed six rebounds and had three assists. 

The game consisted of six ties and six lead changes as both teams were neck and neck the majority of the first half. New Paltz took an early 9-2 lead, but a timeout called by head coach Dave Sloan after three minutes of play turned the tide for Bard, as the Raptors went on an 18-2 run. The Hawks answered back with less than nine minutes into the first half, as they went on a 14-3 run to take a 27-23 lead at 3:22. Bard finished on a 10-5 run heading to halftime to take a one-point lead.

In the second half, tied at 37-37 at 17:26, Bard went on a 11-2 run, including an and one situation for Panagiotounis, and Bard had their largest lead of the night with nine. New Paltz changed gears in the last 14 minutes as they outrebounded Bard 23-10 with 11 offensive boards. With the game tied at 59-59 at 5:05 both teams struggled to get points on the board until Isaiah Rivera tipped in a layup with three minutes left and the Hawks took a nine-point lead with a minute left in the game. Bard tried to reduce the deficit, but the Raptors could not make their three-point shots to close it down. 

Bard will take a week break for Thanksgiving before starting their Liberty League play on Dec 6 as they travel to RIT for a 7:30 p.m. tip off.