Senior Rowan Heinze's layup with 1:03 left in the game secured a 66-64 comeback win on Saturday night for the Bard College men's basketball team against New Paltz at the Hawk Center to close out the Hudson Valley Classic.
 
Bard (2-1) had two Raptors with double-digit points, as junior Sean Wilcox set a new career high with 16 points. Wilcox shot 7-of-10 from the field and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. He also added five rebounds and a block. Rowan Heinze had his third consecutive double-digit point performance with 15 points. He added three rebounds and two assists.
 
Sophomore Connor Melis dished a career-high seven assists while adding three rebounds and a steal. Senior Elliot Harris had eight points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal. Harris was 2-of-4 from beyond the arc.
 
Senior Azriel Almodovar stuffed the stat sheet with six points, six rebounds, an assist, a block and two steals. Senior Heston Tucker added seven points and was 3-of-3 from the field in 17 minutes of play. Lazaros Panagiotounis had five points and five rebounds with a steal.
 
The Raptors outshot New Paltz (3-1) from the field, 57.4% to 36.9%.
 
New Paltz was looking for its second straight win over a Liberty League team after defeating Vassar on Friday night. The Hawks led most of the game after going on a 9-0 run to take a 27-18 lead in the first half. The Raptors kept within reach in the first half and did not let the Hawks stretch their advantage to double digits. With less than 10 seconds left in the first half, senior Cory Dennis drained a three to reduce the deficit to six going into the half.
 
In the second half, New Paltz was in front for the majority and stretched its lead to 10 with 16:33 to play. The Raptors, unfazed, kept fighting back and shot 62.5 percent from the field and were 4-of-7 from behind the arc.
 
With less than three minutes left, a layup from Wilcox, followed by a steal by Panagiotounis to set up Melis for a fast break layup, had the Raptors down by just three points. After a stop, Wilcox then drained a deep three to tie the game, 64-64.
 
With 1:10 left on the clock, Bard executed a play that led to Melis drawing two Hawk defenders, which allowed him to pass to an open Heinze, who attacked the basket for a right-hand layup. The Hawks had three opportunities to tie the game, but the Raptors prevailed.
 
Bard will take a quick break for the Thanksgiving holiday before they are back for their first Liberty League game of the season when they host RIT on December 1st at 7:30 p.m.