GREENVILLE, Pa. (Jan. 11) – Five Bearcats scored in double figures as the Saint Vincent men's basketball team earned a hard fought 77-70 road win over Thiel College in a Presidents' Athletic Conference contest at the Beeghly Gymnasium.
 
Austin Ford opened the scoring with a layup in the opening minute of play. The hosts would counter with six straight points over the next few minutes.
 
Mike Simmons and Jason Capco knocked down three-pointers to give SVC an 8-7 edge at the 13:46 mark of the first half. After Thiel converted a layup, junior Tom Kromka converted an old fashioned three-point play to make it 11-9 SVC.
 
Thiel would counter back with a three-pointer before freshman Josh Duda answered with a trey of his own to make it 14-12 SVC. The teams exchanged baskets over the next several possessions before the Bearcats eventually pushed ahead, using a 5-2 run to take a 21-17 advantage with less than nine minutes to play in the half.
 
From that point both teams exchanged scores and Thiel managed to tie the contest on three separate occasions in the remainder of the half. Capco would use a layup with 19 seconds left in the half to put SVC back in front, with a 31-29 advantage. Ford had a layup waved off by the referees to close the first half and keep the Bearcats from extending their lead further. 
 
Neither team had a lead larger than four points in the first half. Ford, Kromka and Capco each recorded five points in the opening half. Ford and Kromka each pulled down six rebounds as well.
 
The Bearcats started strong to the second half, opening on a 13-4 run to push the lead to 44-33 with 15:43 to play. Coy Patterson Jr. sparked the run with five of the points during the spurt, including an old fashioned three-point play.
 
Thiel refused to go away, getting back into the game with a run of its own. The Tomcats used an 18-8 spurt to close to 52-51 with 11:20 left. A little later a three-pointer by Tyreik Burton from straight on helped Thiel tie the game at 56-56 at the 9:17 mark.
 
Saint Vincent responded with an 11-4 run to push the lead to 67-60 with 4:25 to play. The run was capped by a steal and uncontested layup by Simmons. Thiel would clamp down defensively over the next three minutes, pulling to within a single point (69-68) with a layup at 1:15 mark.
 
The Bearcats would finish off the game on an 8-1 run, with the final six SVC points coming at the free throw line.
 
Patterson led the way offensively with a career-high 16 points. Kromka recorded his fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Matt D'Amico added 12 points while Ford and Simmons each chipped in 11 points.
 
Saint Vincent used a big disparity at the free throw line, converting 22-of-28 shots at the charity stripe. Thiel missed more free throws than they made, converting 12-of-26 shots at the line.
 
With the win, SVC improves to 10-4 overall and 6-1 in the PAC. Meanwhile, Thiel dropped to 7-5 overall and 3-4 in the conference. The win was the sixth straight for SVC against the Tomcats.
 
Saint Vincent hosts Westminster in a key PAC clash at the Carey Center on Saturday, January 14. The Bearcats and Titans will tip-off at 6 p.m.