ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. – The Bard College men's basketball team defeated Hartwick at Stevenson Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon, 98-90. The team had an all-time high 30 assists on 37 made field goals. It is the most assists by a Liberty League member since Ithaca had 33 in 2021. Bard dominated Hartwick in the paint, outscoring them 48-26.

Max Frei had a career-high day with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting, five assists, and four threes. He added three rebounds and a steal. Sean Wilcox led the team in scoring, with 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting. Lazaros Panagiotounis had eight points, tied his career-high with six assists, and five rebounds in 16 minutes. 

Ahmad Rauf scored a career-high 14 points with four three-pointers, including back-to-back threes early in the second half. Rowan Heinze had 12 points, shot 6-of-8 from the field, and tied his career-high six assists. Azriel Almodovar led the team with seven rebounds and two steals, adding two assists and four points. 

Aiden Dunlap and Noah Mvula scored their first collegiate points in the win. Dunlap added a rebound, while Mvula stole two passes. Jalen Umstead also had two steals, four points, three rebounds, and two assists. Lucas Tovar went perfect from the line, with four of his nine points coming from the charity stripe. Seth Dyer had a career-high five rebounds in seven minutes. Luke Ravitz had career-highs with four points, a steal, an assist, and two rebounds.

Bard reached 61.1% from the field in the first half with 22-of-36 shooting and dished out 20 assists for a new season high. The Raptors picked apart the Hawks' 2-3 zone, moving the ball incredibly well, resulting in open looks in the paint, including five assists from Panagiotounis, four from Heinze and Frei. Wilcox went 8-of-9 from the field for 17 points to lead the Raptors in first-half scoring.

In the second half, the Raptors came out hot from three, hitting 5-of-10 during a 25-11 run. The defense locked down the Hawks during the first 14 minutes of the second half, holding them to 8-of-22 shooting (36.3%) and 1-of-8 from three (12.5%). The Raptors limited Joey Mclaurin, who had 17 points in the first half – he didn't score any second half points until the last eight minutes of the game. The Hawks had a late surge, but Bard held on for the eight-point victory.

The Raptors will travel to Kings Point, NY to take on the USMMA on Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. to kick off 2025.