Led by Jaylon Bell's 27 points, the SVC men's basketball team defeated Thiel College 85-81 in the Carey Center to remain undefeated in Presidents' Athletic Conference play.

SVC is now 9-0 in the PAC, 13-3 overall.
 
The first half featured plenty of scoring from two efficient offenses. Thiel reached the scoreboard first before an Austin Ford post move tied things up at 2-2. On the next possession, Bell hit a high-arcing three off of an assist from JC Howard, making the score 5-2, SVC, with 16:42 left to play.
 
Senior Ben Klimchock found his shot a few possessions later, hitting an extremely deep try followed by a Matt D'Amico three a few seconds later giving the Bearcats a three-point lead. Ford connected on a textbook putback and Bell added a fast break finger roll to extend the SVC lead to six with 11:24 left in the period.
 
Bell, following his above the rim layup, took his game to the next level, hitting a trey while well defended, preceded by a Pat Jones drive growing the Saint Vincent lead to 9. Bell found Ford on a pick and roll play, before Howard drove hard to the lane making the score 29-18 Bearcats. Freshman Malique McLaren found his way into the action, hitting a wide-open three at the 4:16 mark, scoring his first points as a Saint Vincent Bearcat. Bobby Swartwout followed McLaren with a fade away jumper in a crowd of Tomcats giving SVC a 40-34 advantage. Thiel battled back in the final two minutes, however, and a Bell free throw would send SVC into the locker room with a slight 41-39 lead.
 
For Saint Vincent, Ford netted 12 first-half points followed by Bell scoring 11. For the Tomcats, Luke Kochka scored 14 in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Howard got things rolling in the second half, hitting a step-back jumper just 15 seconds in for the Bearcats. Klimchock once again netted a three after Howards score, extending Saint Vincent's lead to seven.  Klimchock continued to shoot well, draining another trey - his third of the night - giving SVC a 49-43 advantage with 17:34 left in the period.
 
Bell began to find the hoop frequently, which would be a reoccurring theme for the rest of the game. After hitting a three, Bell continued to play above the rim, connecting on another finger roll. Following a Dedert putback, Bell made eluded Tomcat defenders as he crossed over and took it to the rack once again, giving SVC a 65-60 lead.
 
Thiel continued to keep it a tight contest, as they seemed to answer almost every SVC bucket. Bell scored on another two straight possessions, until he found Swartwout with a key assist under the basket to maintain a 6-point Bearcat lead. Jones connected on a floater before Thiel scored 4 straight to cut the lead in half. Dedert answered with two free throws, but the Tomcats responded with a basket of their own making the score 77-72.
 
Jones nailed a pair of free throws before Bell found Ford under the hoop for another acrobatic assist to once again grow the advantage to 6 points. Thiel, continuing to fight, scored four straight to once again bring the game within four. Bell, who was lights-out all night, grabbed another crucial rebound, hitting one free throw after being fouled. The Tomcats missed their last chance shot on an important late game possession, ultimately being forced to foul Jones off the inbound play. Jones sank both from the charity line, closing out a close one for the Bearcats by a score of 85-81.
 
Saint Vincent was relatively balanced on offense, with four players scoring in double figures. Bell sored a team-high 27 and was three assists short of a double-double. Jones had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.  Ford netted a career-high 15 points and grabbed 6 boards for the Bearcats, while Klimchock, scored 10 shooting 3-5 from outside the arc.
 
For Thiel, Kochka scored a game-high 30 points, while Khari Bess scored 20 with 8 helpers.

Thiel drops to 6-10 overall, 4-5 in the PAC.  

Saint Vincent will travel to Bethany, West Virginia for a matchup with the Bison at 4PM on Saturday (January 23).