MSMC Blue Knights Basketball Tripped Up at Bard

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON – Three Knights scored in double-figures, led by a team-high 15 points from Elijah Barnett, but it was not enough as the Mount Saint Mary College Men’s Basketball team fell on the road at Bard by a score of 83-62 to open the 2022 Hudson Valley Classic Friday night.

Friday’s loss drops Mount Saint to 1-2 overall through three games while the Raptors improve to 2-1 in the early going of the 2022-23 season.

First Half
A tightly contested first half saw the Raptors carry a slim 36-33 lead into the intermission.
After Bard converted the first bucket of the contest, the Knights jumped out a lead of four points twice in the opening 3:21 of play.

The Knights maintained the advantage until the 13:45 mark when Rowan Heinze knotted the game at 11-11 for the Raptors.

The Heinze conversion started a 10-2 run for Bard that saw it surge in front 19-13 on a Calvin Mader-Clark triple with 10:21 left before halftime.

The Bard advantage grew to a half-high nine points, at 26-17, on an Elliot Harris triple with 6:34 left in the opening period.

Following the Harris trey, the Knights ripped off a 16-5 stretch covering nearly five minutes to pull back in front 33-31 with just under two minutes left until halftime.

Brenden Graham started the run with a triple and scored half of the points in the surge as the Mount went 5-for-8 from the floor and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line.

The late lead was short lived, as Bard finished off the opening stanza with the final five points to carry the one possession lead into the break.

Greg Farrow converted a jumper on the ensuing possession to knot the score at 33-33 and then canned a triple in the closing seconds to give the Raptors a 36-33 halftime lead.

Mount Saint Mary finished the first half shooting 41.4-percent overall and hit on three of its nine three-point attempts.

Bard was limited to 30.2-percent shooting, but connected on five triples before halftime.

Barnett and B. Graham led the Mount with eight points apiece before the break.

Tyler Bruns paced the Raptors with eight first half points.

Second Half
After being held to just over 30-percent shooting in the second half, Bard improved its conversion rate after the break to 53.3-percent and knocked down eight triples.

Bard spread its lead to 45-37 early in the second half on a Harris three-pointer.

The Raptors’ advantage grew to double-figures for the first time in the game when Bruns hit a jumper just over five minutes into the second stanza to give Bard a 50-40 lead.

The Bruns jumper started a 17-4 run for the Raptors that covered nearly six minutes and pushed their lead to 65-44 with 9:23 left to play.

Bruns led the way in the run with nine points as the Raptors went 6-for-9 from the floor with three triples.

A Chris Yearwood bucket with 7:05 left moved the Mount to within 65-48, but the 17-point disadvantage was as close as the Mount would get the rest of the way.

A pair of Connor Melis free-throws with 1:52 left gave the Raptors a game-high 83-54 advantage.

The Knights finished with the final eight points of the contest, including a Jayden Racca jumper with 14 seconds left to bring the Mount to within the final 83-62 decision.

Bard finished the second half an efficient 16-for-30 from the field and a blistering 8-for-15 from three-point range.

The Knights converted at 34.4-percent after halftime and went 3-for-9 again from distance.
Barnett and Yearwood each scored seven second half points for the Mount

Harris poured in 14 points after the break, going 5-for-7 from the floor and 3-for-4 from three-point range.

For The Knights
Barnett scored in double-figures for the third straight game to start the season, netting 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting. He added four rebounds and three steals for the Knights.

Yearwood scored 12 points, connecting on a pair of three-pointers.

Jayden Figueroa finished with 10 points and team-highs with eight rebounds and four blocked shots.

Connor Cyran hauled in seven rebounds and led the Knights with four assists.

For The Raptors
Harris led al scorers with 18 points, going 6-for-12 from the field with four to go along with four steals.

Bruns added 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Mader-Clark came off the bench to net 16 points, connecting on four triples, adding six boards and two steals.

Azriel Almodovar finished with a game-high six assists and five steals.

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