The Bard men's basketball team defeated Ithaca in overtime, 102-97, on Friday night to clinch a spot in the Liberty League playoffs.

Bard (14-10, 9-8 Liberty League) had to fight until the end to clinch a spot in the postseason as Ithaca (12-12, 7-10) were also battling to stay in postseason contention. The Raptors had all five starters score double-digit points, with senior Rowan Heinze leading the team with 23 points, followed by Lazaros Panagiotounis with 22. 

Elliot Harris and Azriel Almodovar both had their first double-doubles of the season; Harris had 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Almodovar had 14 points and 14 rebounds. Almodovar and Harris also tied for a team-high five assists. Junior Sean Wilcox added 15 points and three assists, while senior Heston Tucker had nine points and five rebounds. Senior Cory Dennis stepped up on the defensive end after Wilcox went into foul trouble before overtime and went 4-of-6 from the free-throw line during overtime. 

Bard and Ithaca were back and forth in the first half until a 16-3 Raptors run with less than eight minutes left made Ithaca play catchup. At halftime, Bard had an eight-point lead, 46-38. The second half consisted of six ties and four lead changes, with Ithaca outshooting Bard 47-39 in the half. The Bombers came out shooting in the second half, going on a 9-1 run to tie the game at 47-47 at 17:59. Bard turned it around with less than five minutes left with back-to-back threes from Wilcox and two made free-throws from Panagiotounis to make it 81-76 with 2:39 left. Bard was up by three with less than 28 seconds left, but Ithaca made a three with 11 seconds left to force Bard to go for a winning bucket, which Bard missed, and the game went to overtime. 

In overtime, Panagiotounis set the tone for the Raptors, scoring eight of the team's 17 points and going 2-of-3 from three-point range. Bard kept Ithaca at bay, keeping a two-possession lead and going 9-of-11 from the free-throw line to secure the victory. 

Bard will face RIT tomorrow at 4 p.m. in a game that will determine whether or not the Raptors will host a playoff game on Tuesday.

Historical Notes: 

• First time Bard has won 14 games in a season 
• First time Bard defeated Ithaca twice 
• First time Bard won in OT twice against Liberty League teams 
• Second time Bard has clinched a playoff spot (first since the 2018-19 team)
• Second time since the 2021-22 season that Bard went to OT with a Liberty League team, Bard went to OT against RIT and lost both. 

Playoff Scenario:

• If Bard wins and Union loses against Hobart, the Raptors would secure the #4 seed in the Liberty League tournament and host Union on Tuesday, February 20. 
• If Bard wins and Union beats Hobart, the Raptors would earn the #5 seed and visit Union on Tuesday.
• A Bard loss would leave the team with the #6 seed, and the team would be on the road on Tuesday against either Hobart, St. Lawrence, or RPI, depending on other results on Saturday afternoon.