ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. (Nov. 14, 2025) – The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men's basketball team dropped their season opener 75-63 to Bard on Friday night at the Stevenson Athletic Center. The Mariners fall to 0-1 to begin the year while Bard improves to 1-2.
Game Links
Sophomore Tim Barton (Waldorf, Md. / St. John's College HS) and freshman Jack Flannery (McKinney, Texas / McKinney North) led the Blue and Gray offense with a game-high 22 points apiece. Barton went 8-of-16 from the field and drained a team-best four three pointers while hauling down eight rebounds and posting two steals and a block. Flannery went 8-of-14 from the field, knocked down a pair of three-pointers, and recorded a team-high two blocks.
Sophomore forward Aaron Zalescik (Lambertville, N.J. / South Hunterdon) pulled down a game-high nine rebounds and tied for a team-high with four steals. Classmate Mason Lavergne (Baton Rouge, La. / The Dunham School) tied a team-best with four steals and scored eight points on the night.
USMMA jumped out to a 6-2 lead on a Barton layin at the 16:43 mark, then Bard took control with an 18-2 run to stretch their advantage to 20-8. The Raptors increased the lead to 15, 33-18, on a three-pointer with 1:58 left and took a 35-21 lead into the halftime break.
Bard built their lead to 16, 46-30 at the 15:49 mark of the second half before Merchant Marine used an 11-0 run to cut the deficit to five, 46-41 at 11:28 on a Barton layup. That was as close as the visitors would get as Bard pulled away, building their lead to 17, 62-45 on a three-pointer at the 5:49 mark and never looked back en route to a 75-63 win.
Bard had three players score in double figures on the night as Angelos Bratakos led the way with 19 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Max Frei and Lucas Tovar chipped in with 17 and 14 points, respectively.
Merchant Marine hits the hardwood again on Wednesday, Nov. 19, for their home opener against Pratt at 7 p.m. at Liebertz Gymnasium.
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