The Bearcat men's basketball team defeated longtime rival Geneva College by a score of 65-60 in conference action in Latrobe. 

Austin Dedert made his presence known in the opening minutes, blocking two Geneva shots as SVC score the game's first bucket, a score from Austin Ford.
 
A Matt D'Amico three broke a 4-4 tie at the 16:12 mark, and Tom Kromka then backed his way into the paint and scored to make it a 9-4 SVC lead.

Geneva then tallied six straight points to take a 10-9 edge, and the teams continued to battle.  Down three (14-11), SVC got a score from D'Amico on a drive through the lane, then Dedert and Ford hit back-to-back shots to make it a 17-14 Bearcat advantage.  Dedert then added another pair of blocks near the 7-minute mark, eventually leading to a Bearcat fast break and a dunk by Collin Neville that made it 22-17 in favor of the hosts.
 
The Golden Tornadoes then settled down and wen on an 11-1 run over the next four minutes, to take a 28-23 lead.
 
Coy Patterson Jr then took control for the Bearcats, scoring six consecutive points.  He started the rally by drawing a foul and hitting both free throws.  He then drove the baseline for a bucket on the next Bearcat possession, followed by a steal and coast-to-coast drive that put SVC in front, 29-28.  An underhanded layup by Jason Capco ended the scoring for the half with the Bearcats ahead by three, 31-28.
 
The visitors started the second half strong, outscoring SVC 9-2, taking a 37-33 lead after Tyler Crenshaw banked in a shot at the 16:15 mark.  Geneva eventually ran the lead to five, 46-41 near the 12-minute mark before the Bearcats fought back.  SVC drew a pair of fouls, and D'Amico and Ford each hit both shots to cut the gap to just one.  Later Jason Capco  drove through the lane and scored to tie it at 47-47 with 10:01 on the clock.
 
Down 51-49, SVC once again got a spark from Capco, as he scored to start a 5-point run that included a steal, score and free throw by Patterson.
 
The game continued to see-saw back and forth, with D'Amico hitting a pair of field goals to give SVC a 58-56 lead with 3:07 to go.  Patterson then extended the run with a pair of shots from the charity stripe.  After a Geneva turnover, Capco again drove to the hoop and scored, giving SVC a 62-56 advantage with 1:11 left.
 
Geneva was able to draw fouls, but was unable to find consistency at the free throw line.  They eventually cut the margin to three, 62-59, but D'Amico hit four free throws in the closing 30 seconds as SVC held on for the five-point win.
 
D'Amico led all scorers on the night with 18 points, while Patterson added 14 to go along with five steals.  Ford and Dedert scored 10 each.  Ford was tops in rebounds with 10, while Dedert tallied 8 rebounds and six blocked shots. 

For the Golden Tornadoes, Chase Vaudrin had 16 points and 7 rebounds, while Crenshaw had 13 points and 7 boards.
 
Saint Vincent remains undefeated in the Presidents' Athletic Conference at 4-0, 8-3 overall.  Geneva is now 2-2 in the conference, 5-6 overall.

SVC will host Bethany College in the Carey Center on Thursday (January 5) at 7:30PM.