A strong finish to the first half helped propel 22nd ranked Catholic University to an 80-56 victory over the Saint Vincent men's basketball team at the DuFour Center.

Catholic opened the scoring with back-to-back treys, making it 6-0 Cardinals. SVC responded when sophomore forward Austin Dedert got the Bearcats on the next possession with an offensive rebound and layup.

Jaylon Bell knocked down a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down, cutting the deficit to 6-5 with 16 minutes left in the first half.

Bobby Swartwout pulled down an offensive rebound and scored on a layup to make it 8-7. Catholic drained a three-pointer to push the up to 11-7. Dedert scored off a tip-in, bringing the score to 11-9.

Catholic responded with the next two baskets, pushing the lead to 15-9 at the 13:40 mark of the half.

Jones stopped the Catholic run with a pull up jumper in the lane, making it 15-11 with 12:45 remaining in the half.

Austin Ford tied the game at 15-15 with a pair of free throws at the 12 minute mark. Catholic quickly responded with a three-pointer from the corner, putting the score at 18-15 Cardinals.

Jones nailed a wide open trey off an assist from Kyle Rivera, tying the score at 18-18 at the 11:49 mark. From there, Catholic would use a 13-0 run to take a 31-18 run and seize control.

SVC would finally stop the run when Ben Klimchock knocked down a pair of free throws at the 6:11 mark of the first half, cutting the Cardinals' lead to 31-20.

A layup from Swartwout and a three-pointer by Matt D'Amico brought the deficit back to single digits, at 34-25 with 3:39 to go in the half.

Catholic responded with the final 10 points of the half, strengthening the lead to its biggest of the first half at 19 (44-25). The host Cardinals converted 17 of 30 field goal attempts (56.7 percent) in the first half, including 5 of 10 from three-point range.

The Cardinals pushed the lead to 20 points (46-26) early in the second half, before Klimchock drained a three from the corner.

Catholic's lead fluctuated but remained steady around that mark throughout the second half. Rivera knocked down a three-pointer and added a free throw. Those four points cut the deficit to 74-56 but that was as close as the Bearcats would get in the second half.

Saint Vincent was led by Klimchock, who was the lone Bearcats player in double figures, with 13 points. Dedert totaled six points and nine rebounds.

Catholic had three players in double figures, led by Kyle Phanord with 18 points. The Cardinals shot 54.9 percent from the field for the game.

With the loss the Bearcats dropped to 4-2 overall on the season. Meanwhile, the Cardinals improved to 5-3.

Saint Vincent jumps back into conference play when they host Chatham University on Saturday, Dec. 12. The matchup will be the first against the Cougars in school history. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.