Saint Vincent had four players score in double figures as the Bearcats earned a hard fought 87-79 victory over the Westminster Titans to advance to the Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinal round.
 
The Bearcats started slow offensively, with Westminster leading by as many as 15 midway through the first half.  Junior JC Howard would score first for Saint Vincent, converting on a fast break layup.  Classmate Jaylon Bell would hit a jumper at the 17:37 mark, making the score 6-4 Westminster.  Howard would make two free throws on the next possession, followed by a Sean Kett lay-in, making the score 12-8 Westminster.
 
The Titans sank two consecutive threes, gaining a ten-point lead with a little over 13 minutes left in the half.  Pat Jones would answer with a trey of his own, making the score 18-11 Titans.  The Titans again found their groove from beyond the arc hitting two more threes and gaining a 15-point lead.  Bell gained SVC offensive momentum, driving to the basket and scoring on a spectacular and-one layup.  Bell would miss the free throw, but the Bearcats began to find an offensive rhythm.
 
With 7:03 left in the first half, Howard scored on a foul line jumper, followed by a Bobby Swartwout layup, to cut the Bearcat deficit to 10.  Jones would make another trey of his own, finally cutting the Titans' lead to single digits.  Howard and Bell would hit two free throws apiece, to make the score 33-27 Westminster, with 3:11 left in the half. 
 
Swartwout would score 4 points in the final minute of play, but the Titans held a 3-point lead heading into the locker room, 38-35.
 
For Saint Vincent, Howard scored 8 points, going a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line.  For the Titans, Matt Getsy and Jason Pilarski each scored 8 points.
 
The Bearcats took control early in the second half, scoring 9 straight points to take a 44-38 lead.  Howard continued right where he left off, scoring on a drive to cut the Titan lead to 1.  Kett would then score off a Jones assist, gaining the first lead of the night for the Bearcats.  Bell hit free throws on consecutive possessions, before Howard sunk his first three of the night to make the score 47-41 SVC.
 
The Titans would fight back to tie the game 60-60, until Howard hit his second trey of the night with a little over 8 minutes left in the game.  Jones would find his spot behind the arc as well, hitting a three to give SVC a 69-62 lead.  Jones scored on the next two Bearcat possessions, growing Saint Vincent's lead to 8.
 
With 2:30 left in the game, Bell scored on a three, followed by a free throw on the next possession, giving SVC a 77-68 lead.  Jones and Howard would hit free throws of their own, followed by a monstrous Kett block to seal an 87-79 Saint Vincent victory.
 
Saint Vincent was lead by Howard, who scored a game high 24 points.  Jones scored a career high 22, while Bell and Kett rounded out the Bearcat scoring with 15 and 13, respectively.  Kett had a game-high 14 rebounds to complete the "double-double," while Bell and Swartwout added 6 boards each.  Howard led the defense with four steals.
 
For Westminster, Pilarski scored a team high 20 points.  The Titans had four players score in double figures, while shooting 57% from beyond the arc.

Saint Vincent, the #1 seed in the PAC Tournament, will host #4 Thomas More on Thursday evening (February 26) at 7PM.