ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY — Head coach Bob McVean won his 500th game at RIT, as the men's basketball team (3-2, 1-0 Liberty League) opened Liberty League play with a 74-63 win at Bard College (1-4, 0-1 Liberty League) Friday evening., McVean moves to 500-371 in 35 seasons at the university. and has 558 career victories as a Division III head coach.

"This really is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of all the players through the years," said McVean. "They are the ones that have responded over the years and deserve all the credit."

RIT shot 43.9 percent from the floor on 29-of-66 shooting. The Tigers made 5-of-16 from behind the arc, and made 11-of-17 from the free throw line. Troy Pierre-Louis (Providence, RI/Berkshire School) and Robert Aguilera (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) led a quartet of Tigers to score in double figures with 14 points apiece. Anthony Lewis (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) tallied 13 points and had six assists and six steals, while Marcell Davis (Buffalo, NY/St. Joseph's Institute) chipped in 11 points off the bench. Aguilera finished with a double-double, grabbing 12 rebounds. 

Emmanuel Oyakhilome led Bard with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Justyn Rogers added 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Raptors who shot 36.1 percent from the floor.

Bard held a 44-39 rebounding edge, but committed 24 turnovers, leading to 25 points for the Tigers.

RIT trailed throughout the early part of the first half. Alijah Rue gave Bard a 22-16 lead with 11:22 to play in the half on his bucket off a steal. Oyakhilome gave the Raptors their largest lead of the half on his free throw with 11:06 to play.

The Tigers responded with a 16-2 run, taking a 32-25 lead on a free throw by Matt Anderson (Bennington, VT/Mt. Anthony Union). He gave RIT its first lead since early in the game with his three with 7:21 to play, giving the Tigers a 27-25 edge.

Bard closed out the half with a 10-6 mini-run, cutting the RIT lead to 36-33 on a Rogers free throw with 1:15 to play. After a Pierre-Louis layup made it 38-33, Oyakhilome scored with 13 seconds to play in the half to make it a 38-35 RIT lead at the break.

Oyakhilome tied the game with the opening bucket of the second half. He scored at the 19:27 mark to tie the score at 38-38. RIT responded with an 14-2 burst, taking a 52-40 lead on a bucket by Pierre-Louis with 14:44 to play in regulation.

Aguilera gave RIT its largest lead of the game with his jumper off an assist from Wyatt Smith (Rochester, NY/Irondequoit) with 11:29 to play, giving the Tigers a 56-42 advantage. David Runcie cut the RIT lead to seven points with his basket at the 8:28 mark. Bard got as close as seven points a few more times down the stretch, but RIT was too tough.

"It was a gutty win tonight," said McVean. "Any time you can get a road win in the Liberty League, its a big win. Now we have to focus on Union tomorrow."

McVean is RIT's all-time leader in coaching wins with 500, he led the Tigers to 19 consecutive winning seasons from 1991-2010, and posted six 20-win seasons. McVean led the Tigers to the Sweet Sixteen of the 1997 NCAA Tournament, the deepest showing in the tournament in RIT basketball history. In 2011, McVean was inducted into the RIT Athletics Hall of Fame and in 2014 he was inducted into the prestigious Frontier Field Walk of Fame. In 2015, McVean was inducted into the Pavillion Central School Hall of Fame, and last season was inducted into the Wendy's College Classic Hall of Fame.

RIT scored 38 points in the paint, and 24 points off the bench.

The Tigers return to action on Saturday at Union College at 4 p.m. in Schenectady, N.Y.