LATROBE, Pa. (Jan. 27) - Tom Kromka matched a career-high with 21 points, while Kyle Evans scored a career-high 17 points to lift the Saint Vincent men's basketball team to a 74-67 victory over Geneva College in the Carey Center.
The win improves SVC to 8-0 at home this season. The victory moves the Bearcats to 10-2 in Presidents' Athletic Conference action and 13-6 overall. The loss drops Geneva to 5-7 in league games and 9-10 overall.
After both teams exchanged early baskets to make the score 5-5, Saint Vincent used a 5-0 run to take a 10-5 advantage at the 17:50 mark of the first half. Jason Capco connected on a three before Evans converted a fast break layup to give SVC the early edge.
A little later, with SVC leading 14-9, Geneva scored 11 straight points to surge into the lead at 20-14 at the 12:42 mark of the first half. However, Saint Vincent quickly countered with nine straight points to regain the lead. The run started with a layup by Kromka and a three-point play from Shemar Bennett. Four straight points by David Stephen made it 23-20 with 10:05 left in the first half.
A jumper by Noah Damazo cut the Bearcat lead to 27-26 at the 7:16 mark. SVC had the answer once again, as Capco drained back-to-back threes to help SVC gain its biggest lead of the first half, at 33-26 with just a little more than five minutes left in the half. A late layup by Geneva cut the Bearcat lead to 38-33 going into halftime.
SVC extended its lead early in the second half with a 5-2 spurt, with a pair of free throws by Austin Dedert to make it 43-35 with 17:26 to play. SVC extended its lead to nine with a three by Evans and a layup by Kromka to push the lead to 48-39. Geneva continued to battle, using a 8-2 run to cut the deficit to just a single basket (50-47).
Geneva would cut the lead to three twice more before finally pulling within a single point, as a pair of free throws made it 54-53 with 9:23 mark. Josh Duda would drain a three-pointer to give SVC a little breathing room. An Ethan Moose jumper with 2:30 to play brought Geneva back to down three points (63-60) with just 2:30 left. However, the Bearcats had another answer, using a 6-2 run to take a 69-62 with 40 seconds left to all but finish off the victory.
Kromka tied a career-high with 21 points while also pulling down a team-high eight rebounds. Evans chipped in six rebounds, five assists and four steals to complete another strong performance. Stephen also finished in double figures with 10 points. Moose led Geneva with 20 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in the loss.
Geneva out-shot Saint Vincent from the field, as the visitors converted 54.9 percent to just 42.9 percent for the home team. However, Saint Vincent held advantages in offensive rebounds (14-7), made free throws (20-9) and three-pointers made (6-2) to secure the win.
Saint Vincent travels to Waynesburg University for a PAC game on Wednesday, Jan. 31. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.