The Saint Vincent men's basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak by defeating visiting Geneva College 73-65 in the Robert S. Carey Center.

BJ McGill and Dennis Bassich each scored 22 points for SVC, while Ryan Nelson added 11, as the Bearcats got off to a hot start before holding off a late Geneva comeback attempt.

The game was tight in the early going, and the Bearcats stayed with the Golden Tornadoes thanks to Bassich, who scored eight of his team's first 10 points over the opening five minutes, as Geneva led 12-10.

The Bearcats managed to take a 15-12 lead on a three from Pizer and a lay up from McGill with 12:50 left, but the Golden Tornadoes would come back to score seven unanswered points over the next three minutes to go in front 19-15.

Saint Vincent was able to cut the gap to one, 23-22, on a McGill jumper, before another Pizer basket would allow the Bearcats to regain the lead, 24-23, with 7:26 left in the half.  Saint Vincent would then end the first half with a fury, embarking on a 12-0 run, capped off with Bassich's third trey of the half, to go in front 43-29 with just under a minute left until the break.  Geneva would score the half's final two points, and the Bearcats entered halftime with a 12-point lead.

Over the first half, Saint Vincent shot a strong 53 percent (17-for-32) from the floor, including a 6-for-11 mark from behind the arc.  Conversely, Geneva managed to connect on just 10 of 31 attempts from the floor, and four of 13 tries from long distance.

The Bearcats would keep the momentum to open up the second half, upping their lead to 52-38 on a Bassich lay up with 14:22 left in regulation.  Geneva would again counter, cutting the gap to 60-52 with 7:30 remaining, but back-to-back threes from Nelson and Bassich would again give the Bearcats a 14-point cushion, 66-52, with 6:20 to play.

A jumper from Geneva's Richard Colick would trim the Bearcat lead to 66-54 with 6:04 left, but it would prove to be the final field goal of the game for either team, as the fray would turn into a free throw shooting exhibition down the stretch.  The Golden Tornadoes would make 11 free throws and the Bearcats nine over the final five minutes, but the SVC lead proved safe, and the Bearcats improved to 8-5.

In addition to his 22 points, McGill, the reigning Presidents' Athletic Conference Player of the Week, also led the Bearcats with eight rebounds and six assists. 

Geneva was led on the scoresheet by Richard Colick, who scored 21 points, while Dave Phillips added 20 and Bryce Salamone 14.   For the game, the Bearcats shot 46 percent to the Golden Tornadoes' 34 percent, while SVC held Geneva, the top three-point shooting team in the PAC, to just five treys, nearly four fewer than their season average. 

Saint Vincent will now return to action on Saturday afternoon, traveling to PAC foe Bethany College for a 4pm tip.