The Saint Vincent men's basketball team improved to 8-0 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference with a 72-66 victory over second-place Thomas More College in the Carey Center.  

Austin Dedert led the way with career highs in both points (20), rebounds (10) and blocks (4).

Point guard Jaylon Bell got things rolling for the Bearcats, hitting a jumper at the 18:23 mark to net the first points of the night. Dedert made his presence felt in the post early and often for SVC, hitting two free throws making the score 4-2 Saint Vincent with 17:49 left in the half. Dedert then connected on another free throw, followed by a fastbreak layup off of a Ben Klimchock assist giving the Bearcats a 9-6 advantage.
 
With 12:44 left in the period, Bell made Thomas More defenders miss left and right as he drove to the hoop and soared past two Saints making the score 13-8 SVC. Senior Pat Jones found his shot, hitting a jumper, followed by a Matt D'Amico and-one conversion off of an inbound pass, extending the Bearcats' lead to 10.
 
Dedert scored off of a Bell assist followed by another Jones jumper giving SVC a 22-13 lead with a little over 7 minutes left in the half. Bell then got the fans on their feet once again, scoring on an acrobatic drive, followed by a Howard lay in at the 5:05 mark making it 26-17 Bearcats. Dedert continued to haul in rebounds, scoring off of a strong offensive board ending the Saints' 5-0 run. Jones converted an and-one opportunity followed by a Howard block and dish to Klimchock with 6 seconds left to play, sending Saint Vincent into the locker room with a 33-29 lead in a back-and-fourth contest.
 
For the Bearcats, Dedert netted 9 first-half points while Jones added 7. For the Saints, Austin Young and Sawyer Pauly scored 7 each.
 
The second half of play remained as exhilarating as the first, as the Bearcats and Saints battled down to the final seconds. Dedert started right where he left off, with a bleacher rattling dunk, making the score 37-33 with 17:23 left to play. Howard hit a stepback jumper and a trey a few possessions later helping SVC maintain a 3-point lead. Klimchock netted a three of his own followed by a Dedert free throw giving the Bearcats a 52-45 lead with 9:18 remaining.
 
Thomas More orchestrated a 7-0 run to tie the game at 52-52, before Bell drove the lane and scored on a finger roll, gaining back the Saint Vincent lead. The Saints tied it back up before Dedert grabbed a crucial offensive rebound the following possession and converted on the putback making the score 56-54 Saint Vincent.
 
Dedert continued to wreak havoc on the Saints' defense, hitting two free throws followed by another huge offensive board that he converted once again growing the Bearcat lead back to three. Dedert worked the post on the next possession, scoring on a layup followed by a crucial Jones score off a fast break with 52 seconds left to increase the lead to five. Klimchock went on to hit  four crucial free throws to help seal the deal, as the Bearcats defeated the Saints 72-66.
 
In addition to Dedert's double-double, Bell added 14 points, while Austin Ford was 2 points shy of a double double, scoring 8 while grabbing 13 rebounds. For the Saints, Simon Clifford scored 17 and Sawyer Pauly netted 14.

Saint Vincent will host Thiel College on Wednesday (January 20) in the Carey Center.  Tipoff is set for 7:30PM.