Jaylon Bell scored a career-high 31 points to lead the Saint Vincent Bearcats to an 85-80 victory over #11 Marietta College in overtime at the Carey Center.

The Pioneers held an early 11-6 lead just over three minutes into play, but the Bearcats fought back to take a 13-12 lead when Dan Sinwell hit a three-pointer at the 13:46 mark of the first half.  

SVC was behind 18-17 when Bobby Swartwout drove the lane, scored and drew a foul.  He completed the conventional 3-point play to put SVC in front, and hte team then got four points from Bell and a Pat Jonesbucket off a steal by Matt D'Amico, expanding the lead to 26-18 at the 6:12 mark.

Marietta then took a timeout and came back to score the game's next 8 points, tying the score at 26-26.  They retook the lead with just under three minutes left in the half thanks to a three by Luis Garcia from the corner that made the score 31-28.  A lay in by Austin Dedert at the 2:15 mark starteda 7-point Saint Vincent run which included a three from JC Howard and a turnaround jumper by Dedert.

Marietta's Dillon Young his a long three from the top of the key to make it a one-point game, but Swartwout hit a jumper at the buzzer to put SVC in front 37-34 at the half.

Austin Ford scored four quick points to start the second half for SVC, making it a 41-34 game.  Near the 15-minute mark, the visitors closed the gap to just two, 46-44, before Bell drove the lane and scored, followed by a Ben Klimchock three that made it 51-44 with 13:40 to go in the second half.

Once again, the Pioneers refused to go away, eventually tying the game 56-56 on a bucket by Brennan McKean with 8:00 left.  With 5:32 remaining, a steal by Garcia led to a score that gave Marietta its first lead of the second half, 60-58.  The lead increased to seven (70-63) before Pat Jones hit a pair of free throws with 56 seconds left to make the score 70-65.  The Bearcats were forced to foul, and Marietta increased the lead to 72-65 with 48 ticks left in regulation.  Bell then ran the length of the court and scored with 32.5 seconds remaining.  He then stole the inbound pass ans scored with 29.2 seconds to go, drawing a foul in the process.  He hit the free throw to make it 72-70.

The Bearcats once again had to foul, and the Pioneers' Eddy Grenert hit both shots to make it a four-point game, but Sinwell came up with a clutch three from the corner with 11.4 remaining, making the score 74-73.

Saint Vincent quickly fould Grenert, who made the first shot but missed the second, and Jones grabbed the rebound and passed to Bell, sprinted the length of the court and scored with 4.4 seconds left to tie the game at 75-75.

Marietta had a chance to win the game, but a last second half-court shot caught the back of the rim and bounced away, sending the game to overtime.

Bell started the extra period with a long three to make it 78-75, but the visitors added the next five points to take a 2-point lead.  Once again it was Bell who tied the game, this time on a reverse layup at the 1:35 mark.  Pat Jones then put SVC in front to stay, driving and scoring with 44.7 left on the clock.  After a missed shot by Marietta, Sinwell grabbed the rebound and passed to Bell, who hit a free throw with 25.5 left to make it a three-point game.

Marietta had a chance to tie the game, but Bell stole the ball near midcourt, took it through the lane and scored on the breakaway with 16 seconds left.  Marietta ran the ball downcourt quickly and put up a three-point shot, but the errant shot was rebounded by Jones, sealing the win.

Bell's 31-point performance came on 12-for-21 shooting from the floor, to go along with 6-11 from the free throw line. He also had six steals and four assists.  Swartwout and Ford added 11 points each.  Swartwout dominated the boards, with a game-high 9 revounds.  Jones added 7.  

For Marietta (4-1), Grenert had 19 points, while AJ Edwards tallied 15. Young and Edwards had 8 rebounds each.

Saint Vincent is now 2-1 on the season and will return to action next Wednesday, December 2, hosting Bethany in the Presidents' Athletic Conference opener.