The St. Lawrence University men's basketball team used a 32-7 run that spanned the first and second halves to overcome an early 15-point deficit to defeat Bard 81-70 in Liberty League play on Saturday afternoon at Burkman Gymnasium.

Junior Riley Naclerio led the Saints, scoring 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to post his eighth double-double of the season. Senior Kyle Edwards tallied 14 points, while Kyle Kobis and Ben Crawford both added 12.

The Saints got off to a slow start, with the Raptors holding a 31-16 lead with five minutes remaining in the first half. St. Lawrence responded with a 14-5 run before the break, capped by a 3-pointer by Naclerio in the final minute of the first half. The Saints kept the run alive in the second half, hitting three 3-pointers in the first minute and a half to take a 39-38 lead. After the first five minutes of the second half, the Saints had extended the lead to 10 points, 48-38.

Armando Dunn led the way for Bard with 15 points. Christopher Rogers added 13 points while Chris Lockwood contributed 12.



St. Lawrence distributed the ball extremely well, with 24 assists on 27 of the team's field goals. The Saints also shot the ball well, going 27-for-53 (50.9%) from the floor and hitting 10-of-24 of their 3-point attempts.

The Saint improved to 19-4 and 12-2 in conference play, while Bard fell to 3-20, 1-13. St. Lawrence remains tied with Skidmore for first place in the conference standings with just two games remaining in the regular season.

St. Lawrence will travel to nearby Clarkson University on Wednesday evening as they partake in the Route 11 rivalry at 8 p.m., then wraps up the regular season against Skidmore at Burkman Gymnasium next Friday.