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TROY, N.Y. - Freshman Tom Horvat scored 28 points but it was not enough to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's basketball team to victory as the Engineers fell to Bard College 63-53 in a Liberty League contest at East Campus Arena. The Raptors got 20 points from Harry Johnson to improve to 9-14 overall and 6-8 in the league. Rensselaer falls to 10-11 and 4-8.

Horvat (Cranston, RI / Providence Country Day) had 18 first half points on 8 of 12 shooting to help the Engineers to a 32-30 bulge after the first 20 minutes. Bard stayed close behind its depth of scoring as seven different players had points, paced by freshman Armando Dunn's (Queens Village, NY / Cardozo) 10.

The Raptors came out in the second half and went on a 10-2 run, including a pair of three-pointers from Johnson (Smyrna, DE / Polytech), for a 40-34 edge just four minutes into the frame. A Horvat three made it 40-37, but Johnson answered right back, followed by a three-pointer from DeVahnte Mosley (Sicklerville, NJ / Paul VI) and a Brandon Cunningham (Bronx, NY / Mount St. Michael Academy) dunk for a 48-37 Bard lead with 11:39 to play. The Engineers cut the lead to eight points on several occasions, but could get no closer as the visitors made 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch.

In addition to Johnson, who made 6 of 10 shots including 5 of 7 from behind the arc, Mosely (11 points) and Dunn (11) also reached double figures for the Raptors, who shot 71.4 percent (5 of 7) from three-point range in the second half and 53.8 percent (7 of 13) in the game. Johnson, who had 15 second half points, had a team-high five rebounds and Mosely added five steals.

Horvat, who was one point away from his career-high of 29 points, made 11 shots, including four three-pointers. He also had a rebound, three assists and five steals in 37 minutes. Junior Jonathan Luster (Essex, CT / Valley Regional) scored 10 points with four rebounds, four assists and a steal for RPI, which made 42.9 percent (21 of 49) of its shots.

The Engineers are home on Friday night against Skidmore College (8pm), while the Raptors are idle until February 17 when they play Vassar College.