ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY – Reigning Empire 8 Rookie of the Week Kevin Townes (Lagrangeville, NY/Our Lady of Lourdes) and senior Corey Baker (Granby, MA/Granby) combined for 49 points and nine three-pointers on Tuesday as Hartwick men's basketball scored its first victory of the season at Bard College, 97-85.
             
The Hawks are now 1-2 on the season. The Raptors drop to 0-3 on the campaign.
           
Townes had 25 points on 7-of-16 shooting. He added four three-pointers, nine rebounds, and five assists. Baker knocked down a game-high five treys and shot 7-of-14 from the floor for 24 points. He contributed eight boards. In total, ten different Hawks made it into the scoring column on the night.
           
After surrendering the game's first basket early, the Hawks exploded for a 16-2 run, hitting four three-pointers in the process to take command. Baker nailed a trio of threes in the run with Patrick Garey (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) adding another from downtown.
           
The Hawks built their biggest margin of the half, 29-8, on another Baker three-pointer at the 10:19 mark of the half. 'Wick would maintain at least a 12-point margin the rest of the way before settling on a 53-35 edge at halftime.
           
The lead would swell to 26 points, 69-43, with six and a half minutes gone in the second half on a Tommy Kelly (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) three. The Hawks would hold at least a 15-point advantage until the final three minutes of action in the victory.
           
Hartwick shot 43% from the floor and made 14 three-pointers on the night. The Hawks would hold the Raptors to 39.5% shooting from the floor.
           
Marc du Moulin (Altamont, NY/Guilderland) contributed eight points and tied for a game-high 10 rebounds for the Hawks. Brandon LaForest (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) had 13 points and he dished out a game-high seven assists.
           
David Runcie led all scorers with 26 points for Bard. He also registered 10 rebounds. Armando Dunn scored 12 points and Alijah Rue netted 11.
           
Hartwick returns to action on Sunday with an exhibition game at Division I Binghamton. Tip-off with the Bearcats is 2 p.m.