The Bard men's basketball team could not stop a hot shooting RIT team on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Tigers 91-78 at Clark Memorial Gymnasium. Bard has earned the no. 6 seed for the Liberty League Championships and will visit RPI on Tuesday.

Bard (14-11, 9-9 Liberty League) had to win against RIT to secure the no. 4 seed spot and to potentially host a playoff game for the first time in school history, while RIT (13-12, 9-9) had to win to secure a playoff spot. 

The Raptors played catchup most of the game, with senior Lazaros Panagiotounis leading the team 20 points. It was Panagiotounis' fourth 20+ point game in the last six games. He added three rebounds. Fellow three-point shooter Elliot Harris had 14 points and shot 4-of-6 from behind the arc. Harris added five rebounds. 

Senior Heston Tucker came off the bench and had 12 points and five rebounds, while fellow senior Azriel Almodovar had 10 points and four rebounds. Senior Rowan Heinze added seven points, while junior Sean Wilcox was limited in playing time due to foul trouble but was still able to grab two boards and had a team-high three assists. 

Senior Cory Dennis and Kevin Le each had five points, while Mike Parme added three points and two rebounds. 

RIT had a 12 point lead halfway through the first half, but the Raptors went on a 9-0 run to get within two of the Tigers with less than four minutes left. RIT would finish the first half on a 10-2 run to take a 50-39 halftime lead. The second half saw RIT lead by as much as 17, but the Raptors were able to narrow down the deficit late in the game but not enough to take the victory. The Tigers shot 55.2 percent from field and 56.5 percent form the three-point range, and kept Bard to 45.9 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from the three. 

Bard will take on no. 3 RPI on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for the Liberty League Quarterfinals, the winner will travel to no. 2 St. Lawrence on Friday.