POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Bard's Liberty League opener on Tuesday night at Vassar had become a plodding battle of attrition. Tons of fouls, very few open looks for anybody, and the leading scorers for both teams were having off nights.

As the Raptors went into halftime with an 18-15 lead, it was clear the scoring was going to have to come from somewhere else. Vassar, the preseason coaches' pick to win the Liberty League title, was probably not going to continue shooting 22 percent from the field the rest of the way.

In the end, and for the first time anyone can remember, it was Bard's depth that made the difference in this one. Bard's bench outscored Vassar's 24-0, and the Raptors hung on for a 61-54 victory to improve to 6-4 overall, 1-0 in the Liberty League.

Vassar (4-7, 1-2) has dominated the series between the schools ... until recently. Bard is 5-27 against Vassar all-time, but 4-3 against the Brewers since joining the Liberty League in 2011. The four wins over Vassar have come by a combined total of 13 points.

Both teams shot the ball poorly in the first half - Vassar 22 percent, Bard 24 percent - but that wasn't expected to continue and it didn't. The Raptors saw a seven-point lead early in the second half disappear, and the Brewers took the lead and went into the double-bonus with 10:04 left in the game, 34-32.

A short jumper by Siondueh Burnette (Lakeville, MA) gave Bard the lead back, 36-34, with 8:21 left, and then each possession became pressure-packed as the upset loomed. Vassar was unable to regain the lead the rest of the way, but it was a tense final five minutes to say the least.

Starting center Brandon Cunningham (Bronx, NY) fouled out with 4:50 to go; starting guard Harry Johnson (Smyrna, DE) followed him to the bench with his fifth foul 45 seconds later. Vassar senior power forward Alex Snyder (Rutland, VT) also departed with 3:43 remaining. The benches were really coming into play at this point.

With 2:47 left, a pair of free throws from Luka Ladan (Belmont, MA) cut Bard's lead to 46-43, but Alex Fabean-Scotch (Alexandria, VA) hit a pair at the other end to push the lead back to five. After another pair of Ladan free throws, freshman DeVahnte Mosley (Sicklerville, NJ) made a driving layup, was fouled and made the foul shot to push it to six with 2:25 left.

A three-pointer by Curtis Smith (Mastic, NY) halved the deficit, but Fabean-Scotch hit a clutch three after a Vassar time out and it was 54-48 with 1:42 remaining.

Erickson Wasyl (Durham, CT) made a layup to cut the lead to four, but Mosley struck again with a driving layup to make it 56-50 with 65 seconds left. Bard's lead was five with 21 seconds left when Smith missed a three-pointer, and Chris Lockwood (Los Angeles, CA) made two free throws down the other end to put the game away.
 
Vassar, one of the best three-point shooting teams in the league, went 2-for-12 from beyond the arc and missed 15 foul shots (20-for-35). Bard was marginally better, but in this particular game, shooting 40 percent from the floor was good enough to win it.

Ladan led Vassar with 22 points, 14 from the foul line, and Smith finished with 17 points.

Fabean-Scotch had 16 to lead Bard. Lockwood had nine points and eight rebounds in his first game for the Raptors. Freshman Emmanuel Rainey (College Park, GA), playing in his first college game after missing the first semester with concussion issues, had seven points. Mosley had all of his seven points in the second half; Burnette and Johnson had six points apiece, and freshman Jelani Bell-Isaac (Lake Peekskill, NY) added four points and seven rebounds.

The Raptors have a couple of days before their next challenge - back to back Liberty League games this weekend. They'll play at Skidmore on Friday night and at Union on Saturday afternoon.