Bard Brings the Energy at Home in Win Over Skidmore

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON – Ahmad Rauf’s career-high scoring output propelled the Bard men’s basketball team past Skidmore 57-47 on Saturday afternoon at Stevenson Athletic Center.

Rauf scored a career-high 19 points, making a career-high five threes, going 6-of-11 from the field. Lazaros Panagiotounis had his 18th game of the season with 10+ points, scoring 16 points and adding nine rebounds.

Azriel Almodovar had a team-high ten rebounds, leading the Raptors’ efforts on the boards against a taller Skidmore team. He had a game-high four steals, along with seven points.

Rowan Heinze stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Sean Wilcox had seven points, eight rebounds, and was a defensive anchor for the Raptors, playing 38 minutes.

In the first half, both teams went back and forth – it wasn’t until the 16:39 mark at 5-7 that the Raptors went on a 13-0 run to take an 11-point lead with less than 10 minutes left in the half. Skidmore answered back with a 10-3 run at the 1:22 mark to finish the first half only down by five points, 32-27. Bard outrebounded Skidmore 20-17 and led them in points in the paint,16-4.

The Raptors ratcheted up the defensive intensity in the second half, preventing Skidmore from scoring from the 11:42 mark to 3:22 left, a 8:20 stretch. The key for Bard was forcing tough jumpers and defending without fouling. The Raptors led by six after Joey Skoric broke the Skidmore drought with a three, but Rauf answered to dash the Thoroughbreds’ hopes.

Bard only had six team fouls and allowed two free throws. In contrast, the Raptors went 12-of-15 from the line. The Raptors also scored twice the amount of points off turnovers as Skidmore, 14-7.

Bard will travel to RPI and Hobart for their last two road games, taking on RPI on Friday at 7:30 p.m., and then Hobart on Saturday at 4 p.m.